Ski Racing, Again, Part 7; February 2018
The earliest days of modern racing, i.e., after modern slalom joined downhill in 1922, were noteworthy for civility and chivalry and English country-club manners that nonetheless resulted in great sporting performances. The most fascinating accounts of those early days, The Englishman on Ski (Museum Press Limited, London), were compiled by Sir Arnold Lunn and published in 1963, 41 years after he conducted the first modern slalom in Murren, and 65 years after he first strapped skis to his feet (in 1898). As Lunn wrote, “our eccentric belief that the best way to test downhill ski-ing was to race downhill aroused at first very little interest.”
A flavor of the times infuses every story. In a chapter entitled, "Ski-Racing in the Gothic Age," Lunn describes a January day in 1923, when 15 competitors were to race from a hut on the Schilthorn to the Egertental in Switzerland. As was typical, there were no intermediate control gates. Falling snow had shortened the course somewhat, and then it was realized no one had installed finishing posts at the end. The racers were to have timed themselves, but wouldn’t know when to stop racing and timing. The starter dispatched two Swiss guides to ski down and plant their poles at the finish, and told the waiting racers they were to ski between the guides at the finish; the guides were given a ten-minute head start. The competition chairman began the countdown for the mass-start, but when he reached “two,” “a tall sturdy young man had already dived down the slope. He overtook the guides well above the Egertental and a few minutes later an elderly skier with a grey beard was startled by the sudden appearance of a human meteor. “Don’t move,” shouted the meteor, “you’re a finishing post. Put your stick in the snow and I’ll stick mine here. And please stay here until the other competitors begin to arrive.” And that is how Mackintosh won his first Roberts of Kandahar.”
Would Sir Arnold recognize current slalom? He was no stranger to athleticism. These slalom racers were all competing in the Western Region U16 Championships, held in 2013 at Alyeska. The WR U16s return to Alyeska in March 2018.
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