“WITH THE TRAUMA of the World Cap at Whistler a0 recent, Grouse Mountain officials are keeping their Shore event. fingers crossed that the snow will hold for the World Freestyle championships set for the end of March. Michel Daigle of Montreal, pic- tured above doing a back tayo out is one of the featured -d performers ready for the North Hillside X-country power Hillside poured on the power at a North Shore Cross Country Meet held at Suther- land winning five team events. But individually, in senior boys, Howe Sound’s Brad Brohman placed first among 56 finishers by running the 2.5 mile course in 13 minutes 28 seconds. In junior boys, Dave Snowden of North Van and Chris. MacKenzie of Bal- moral tied for first times of 14 minutes 30 seconds. The juvenile boys’ race of two miles was won by John Crowley of Hillside who finished at t1 minutes 53 seconds ahead of 49 boys. _Tim Corcoran of Hillside finsihed first for bantam boys at a time of 12 minutes 29 .seconds. Birgit Otto of Sentinel finished first among 55 senior girls with a run of 12 minutes 33 seconds. And Hillside’s Kathleen Mayrs, a junfor, finished second over- all behind otto and first among junior races with a time of 13 minutes six seconds. Girl's softball registration Girls wanting to play softball in the Bert Dukes Softball league will be having their registration Friday, March 16 from six to nine pm and again on Saturday, March 17 from one to six pm at Westlynn Mall. {/ [SERVICE jet \"~ } rey phone: Jay Carter 922- TREE e733 ‘Fully insured & experienced. -Your competent tree service on the North Shore. ‘Fruit Tree Pruning At rates that gat the job done. EE ESTIMATES | "By SIM KEARNEY The Russians may have pushed Canada back to No. 2 in hockey, but fear not, for there’s another winter sport in which Canadians lead _ the world. . Defending champion John Eaves of Montreal and runner-up Greg Athans, of Kelowna and Vancouver, once more lead the In- ternational pack as _ the Labatt’s World Cup Freestyle Ski Tour heads for its 1978-79 windup on Grouse Mountain, March. 30, 31 and April 1. The 60 top freestylers in the world will be there to compete in the most unique ski setting in the world, atop a 4,000 foot high mountain with the whole of Vancouver at its doorstep. Nowhere else in the world is there a ski area so close to a metropolitan centre of more than a million people. Nothing could be more fitting than such a unique setting for such a unique sport. As an organized competition freestyle skiing is only six year old. Yet in this time it has grown from informal competition on a few Canadian and American ski hills into a multi-national professional tour. The overall winner this season will make himself well over $50,000. THE WEST VAN SQUASH & RACQUETBALL CENTRE The West Vancouver Racquetball Centre is an imaginative concept designed for those who Squash and want to keep fit and hava tun doing it Join us now for a smashing good ime Single $300. - Now open to all North Shore residents ~ unrestricted guest privileges. Opening date Mid - Summer Courta - 6 Racquetball - 3 Intemational Squash - Hand ball *Glassed view courts Now Available Corporate and Group Memberships Cee Facilities Couples $450 Location - pro shop > exercise room « whist pool -supervised nursery -dining - 21st and Marine, West Vancouver inquiries - Brochures are available and will be sent on request. Contact our answering service at 925-1331 tor complete details or write PO Box 91105, West Vancouver, V7V 3N3. Here is a guage of the by- leaps-and-bounds nature of freestyle skiing’s phenomenal growth. At last season’s World Cup Tour winner and runnerup, Eaves and Athans earned $34,000 and $32,000. respectively. Should they repeat this year, they will nearly double their money. Non-skiers may properly ask: what, exactly is freestyle skiing? The best answer, possibly, is that it is to traditional skiing what modern interpretive dancing is to classical ballet. It takes many of the basic skills involved both in alpine and Nordic skiing and ex- ’ tends them to new and more imaginative Athans has: book—Ski horizons. authored a Free—on_ the sport. In it he tells why it has’ taken off and flown from nowhere, at the start of the ‘70's, to its present prominence. Acrial competition equates with diving from the 10 metre tower. Down .a * ramp, with an upturned lip Page 15, March 11, 1979 - Sanday News rouse watching weather . Freestylers go end of March - at the bottom, then into space for somersaults, twists, layouts—the entire diving routine. Except for oné thing. It is bad form to land head first. Also hard on the neck. Ballet gets its inspiration from figure skating. It features the shortest skis of all, so that many of the same moves are possible. And, like figure skating, it is done to music. Defending champion Eaves excels in both these events. He is a former competitive gymnast and diver and a musician. He composes the music for his ballet routines. Where the course is wide enough, as it will be on Grouse, the skiers go down two at a time, racing each other as well as the stop- watch. But first to the finish line, or best time, doesn't necessarily win. Because of the moguls, the competitors are constantly airborne. They win points for. their aerial manoeuvers as well.