1944-1945 Year Book - the Gatineau Valley Historical Society

Ottawa Ski Club Year Book 1944-45 21
my thumbs, sprained both my
wrists, twisted one knee so that
it was afflicted with water for
several days afterwards, and
smacked all the wind out of my
lungs with such gusto that I
struggled painfully to breathe
as I lay half-stunned on the
ground. However, when I sat
up and studied the situation, and
found that I had collapsed with
one leg on either side of the tree,
I realised that it had really behaved
with considerable selfrestraint.
In addition to two respectable
race courses, with which I am
not as familiar as I should like
to be, fouT good open slopes are
assembled round Camp Fortune.
They are Mort's Hill, the Divide,
Travelers' Hill and the Slalom
Hill. Each has its own particular
attraction. The Divide is
a short but sweet plunge for
straight down-hill runners.
Mort's is a good, moderate slope
on which to practise your turns.
The Slalom Hill is a higher and
more precipitous drop on which
to perfe·ct them, or bust. Travelers'
is a mixture of various
things. I know that "comparisons
are odious". But if I were
to express a preference between
the four hiHsides, I would choose
Travelers'.
When God made Travelers'
Hill He did a lovely little job. It
is a horiey. Clad in its white
mantle, it has a judicious mixture·
of restraint and excitement,
of straight running and twists,
of the rough and the smooth.
Surveyed from the bottom it has
the right air of innocence, and
from the top the right air of
wickedness.
Its summit is a platform
screened by Christmas trees. On
it you can pretend to be enjoying
a beautiful, distant view
whilst you summon up courage
to make the descent. Your resolve
made, you take either of
two routes down. You can
slip from your mooring with an
inclination to port ... gather
speed gradually over gentle
ground ... do a mild Christie to
the right just before you run
slap into the trees growing beyond
the hill's left shoulder ...
plunge at a quickening speed
down a steeper slope, curve
again to the right just above a
ridge stretching across the middle
of the hill, and swoop
smoothly down the final, steepest
incline to the bottom. Or else
you can start from the top with
a slight bias to starboard. By
that route you run more immediately
and quickly over the
hill's shoulder ... steer a course
amongst a few aggressive
bumps, descend at a spanking
pace a sharp angle of the hill,
and plunge left, right or centre
(whichever you choose or can't
help) over the ridge and on to
the last steep drop. By devious
little adjustments of direction
you can add variety to your descent.
Thus, if you direct your
skis sufficiently boldly towards
one point on the top shoulder,
you can jump into the air on
your way down. Or with a sharp
twist here and there you can
leave the open hill-side and continue
with wild war-whoops and
professional writhings through
a cluster of trees. But be careful
! Whatever course you take,
the bottom of the hill may give
you an unpleasant surprise.
When you have accomplished
the descent successfully and are