' ' • NOVEMBER, 1 969 - the DHO

DO YOU HAVE A RACER IN THE FAMILY?
Y ski-ing, contrary to that of most people I
M believe, started on grass; and what's more,
it was organised by the Los Angeles Junior
Chamber of Commerce in California. At the age
of six, I was practising everything from kick turns
to herringbone steps, on practically flat ground.
By the time the snow came, my sister and I had
joined thousands of other screaming little souls on
the 4.30 a.m. bus rides that took at least three hours
to reach the snow fields, where we would walk
about and usually fall flat on our faces. Not only
was my ski-ing very limited in those days but I
certainly showed no great talent towards the sport.
Finally the day came when my sister and I were
packed off to boarding school in England. This was
my parents vain attempt to bring some discipline
into our lives; no ski-ing there. However I went out
to Austria with a school organised party and loved
my first ski-ing holiday so much that our family
spent the next one in Zermatt. Apart from my
sister nearly getting lost on the Monte Rosa glacier,
the holiday was a great success. The decision must
have been taken then and there for me to have a
third year in England and then complete my
schooling in Switzerland. So by 1959 I was there to
obtain some foreign languages, healthy air and skiing,
while working towards my G.C.E. exams.
Since I could not go home for Christmas, I went
with the school party to Lenk, so that by the time
the Easter and ski-ing term came along I was able
to stand quite comfortably on my skis.
My first disappointment in ski-ing came when,
during that term, there was a chance for me to
compete in a British school girls race at Gstaad,
but because of my American passport, I was not
allowed to enter. Despite my hasty endeavours to
obtain a British passport (at that time I had dual
nationality because my father lives in California), it
arrived too late and I was unable to compete until
the following year. Then, still having only a vague
idea of which way to go through the gates, I eagerly
competed and completed, I'm proud to say, my
first ski race at the age of 14. Unknown to us at the
time, Ros, who usually attends these races in search
of new talent, had been watching our race with
those professional 'Hepbird' eyes (from out of the
trees). How she ever considered my unruly style and
lack of control anything to go by, I'll never know,
but the following school term I received an invitation
to join the Downhill Only Club Junior Training
in Wengen. My parents were as thrilled as I was,
especially my Father who during his pre-war days
in Klosters had earned the name of 'Avalanche
Harry' for his bold and somewhat rash attempts at
ski-ing. Until the war broke out, he had always
envisaged himself as a future British racing prospect.
Bunny Field
He now saw the chance for his daughter to re-live
those glorious days.
I continued with the D.H.O. at Christmas and
Easter for the next two years. My first attempt at the
British Junior Championships was disastrous; I was
much too nervous. But at my second attempt, in
Lenk, the training began to show its value, and
feeling practically on home ground, I came third in
the Combined. Later that year I entered for the
British Senior Championships at Andermatt, which
is where I first saw the British Ladies Team. I seem
to remember that this had a most encouraging effect
on my growing determination to reach the top.
Partly through luck and most certainly through the
inspired coaching of Werner Staeger, I reached
fourth place in the Combined, and, through this, an
opportunity to enter for an international race in
Italy with Gina and Divina the following week. The
value of this experience showed the following week,
when Ros took Diana May and me to compete in
the first Vienna Derby at Bad Gastein, and I had my
first international victory. From then on I began to
gain more confidence, as a cutting from the continental
Daily Mail the following day showed. With
characteristic exaggeration I was reported as
saying 'We were trying for a place in the Olympic
Team'.
The following winter I was invited to national
training, and, as it was Olympic year, everything
was rather serious and one could feel the tension
among the older girls, anxious to know who would
be chosen for the Olympic team. Four others and I
were selected for the B Team and once again I
attended D.H.O. training before competing in my
last Junior Championships at Wangs Pizol. Luckily
I won and this helped to give me confidence for the
rest of the season, which we spent racing in Austria,
France, Italy, Switzerland and Jugoslavia. What an
exhausting year that was, carrying ski bags bulging
with four pairs of skis plus heavy suitcases from
train to train up and down the Alpine valleys!
After six years of racing continuously through each
season, I think that I can define some of the essential
ingredients that make up a racer. You must start
young and feel something of competitive spirit
almost from the start. Training with a racing club,
of course, makes a tremendous difference. Beyond
the right training (and, of course, the basic aptitude),
the individual's make-up and determination will
decide what he or she accomplishes. In my case,
D.H.O. gave me the opportunity, and, in doing the
best I could with it, a new, exciting and unpredictable
world was opened up to me. I've never regretted
going on with it and, after a year away from the
racing scene, I'm going back knowing even better
how much I've enjoyed these years.
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