by h.harb » Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:18 am
My early influences from the international skiers was Killy. As a kid I just picked out the best skiers on the slopes and tried to copy the ones I liked. We had some very good racers in my high school (two were national team) and we all skied on the same mountain. At 14, I met a Polish racer who had raced on the World Cup, friend of my father. I followed him everywhere for 3 seasons. I started racing at 16, so I was late to the show. At 17 I moved out to Alberta, made the Alberta Team. I was mostly learning to ski big mountains and developing a natural style, there wasn't any technical coaching as we know it. My main thoughts were stand on the outside ski and counter balance. If you could do that it took your long way. At 18 I skied my first World Cup at the invitation of the Canadian Ski Federation, the ski team. I saw all the best skiers, Killy, LaCroix, Guy Perillat, Augert, Alfred Matt, Kidd, Schranz. After that I was training with the Canadian ski team, picking out what I thought worked best. I skied with two world champions, Jean Noel Augert probably was the best model. This was all in leather boots that went slight higher than your ankles. If you watch Killy skiing slalom, (same boots I had) it's amazing he could tip those skis at all, but he did. The boots allowed for no leverage, it was all ankles and feet. If you didn't have strong feet in those days, you didn't last long on the racing scene.