US 1957 Biathlon Ski Team, from left to right (back row): Fred Beck, Quintin Golder, Selwyn Presnal and Stan Walker; (front row) Gunnar Jansen, Gerald Jensen and Fritz Holt.
Early Biathlon Days Great article on biathlon skiing in the December 2010 issue of Skiing Heritage ("Biathlon Boom"). Here is some additional information on the early days of the U.S,. team.
Following WWII and the deactivation of the 10th Mountain Division, what remained of Camp Hale in Colorado was occupied by a small Army group called the Mountain and Cold Weather Training Command, starting in1952. Although their task was to teach skiing, rock climbing, and outdoor survival to various military units, they also ski raced and began biathlon training. Their first competition was at Camp Hale in 1957, followed by a competition in Switzerland. They competed in the first world championship in 1958 at Saalfelden, Austria. Being a military team, they wore camouflage white clothes with civilian knicker socks, boots and skis, with an M-1 rifle strapped to an Army rucksack. The athletes were from all across the country.
Peter Birkeland (MCWTC alum)
Boulder, Colorado
Hearfelt thanks to Heggtveit I thoroughly enjoyed the article on Anne Heggtveit in the December 2010 issue (“Where Are They Now?”). I want to expand on one small part of the article, so—as Paul Harvey used to say—you’ll have “the rest of the story.”
The article made passing reference to her time at Jay Peak. It noted, “On weekends she’d ski at Vermont’s Jay Peak, sometimes with Lucile Wheeler.” Well, for me, as a young skier, her time meant much more than that. Mrs. Hamilton, as we called her, was one of the coaches for the Jay Peak Ski Club in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Our team was comprised mostly of Canadian kids and, like many Vermont ski clubs, a number of went on to earn ski success at places like Burke Mountain Academy. Some even won NCAA titles or raced for the U.S. and Canadian national teams. I was not one of those racers.
I was a kid with very little natural athletic ability. By my second year on the club I felt very discouraged, as I always finished near last place. One day I was having extra trouble because I had just gotten my first new pair of ski boots. Hamilton noticed that I was struggling and that my boots were not allowing me to flex properly. We left the team behind and skied to the base lodge, where she got a stack of napkins. I remember being confused...I hadn’t spilled my hot chocolate, but she was a coach and I didn’t say a word. She put the napkins behind my calf, between the boot shell and the liner. We then went back up the mountain. “Try it now,” she said. I raced better than I had all day...all year...or maybe ever. When practice was over, she told my parents what to tell the ski shop in order to make things right.
That day didn’t turn me into a world-class racer, but it did help to make me a lifelong skier. Instead of quitting, I ended up spending the rest of my elementary and high school years racing for either Jay Peak or our regional high school. In one of my last high school races, I came within within 13/100ths of actually winning! I became a Jay Peak ski instructor and now look forward to each ski season to spend magical time with my 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. Thank you, Mrs. Hamilton! I’ll never forget what you did for me.
John Ferrara
Hinesburg, Vermont
One Javelin, Two Bindings I enjoyed the September issue of Skiing Heritage and the article on Hart Skis by Seth Masia (“A Family Business Rebounds”). From my photo collection: the Hart Javelin AGS 145, 215 centimeters long, with two Marker bindings on the same ski. Not easy to ski if you are not Art Furrer.
Luzi Hitz
Switzerland
Correction I regret several errors in my December 2010 article about Sun Valley, Stars in the Archives. —John Fry
• Nelson Bennett was Sun Valley’s second ski patrol director, not the original one.
• The long sheaves or shafts of his innovative rescue sled were parallel to one another, not in a V.
• Friedl Pfeifer’s bride Hoyt was not Mormon.
• The Shah of Iran may not have skied down Baldy at dusk from a party at the Round House. Dorice Taylor’s memoir of Sun Valley said that the Iranian leader did, but Bennett, who was there, says he didn’t.
