TAKING OFF, the ski jumps provide excellent opportunities for photographers to capture action shots.

And the interviews are
just a waste of time because
you can predict almost word
for word what the winning
skier is going to say while he
is waving his brand-name
ski's around.

It is far more valuable to
go up on the slope for the
photographers because ski
Facing is made for them.

For photographers the
important concern is the
element of danger. To get
good photos you have to
position yourself almost
nght in the path of one of the
racers, and if the racer is off
balance this can be rather
tncky.

One photographer on the
weekend almost lost his
valuable camera as it went
sliding down the hill just
seconds ahead of the
photographer himself and
the skier who hit him.

From the working jour-
nalisis point of view then,
pro skiing is a relatively easy

event to cover and is far
more profitable visually.

What pro skiing at Big
White was all about had little
to do with this.

The Labatt Pro Challenge
was a showpiece for the
decadent mountain-top
world that is North
American skiing.

Disco bunnies and wealthy
orthopedic surgeons have
taken over the most
beautiful winter spots on the
continent for their peculiar
pastime of going down hills
very fast.

And reason few people
were watching the actual
Labatt Pro Challenge live, is
because everybody was too
busy skung.

All the organizers and
media who attended last
weekend seemed to have the
avowed intention of doing as
much skiing as possible in
the limtted time available.

And the rest of the time
was spent having a good time
or in the case of some
people, trying to acquire a
Labatts ski tocque.

DISPLAYING HIS SKILLS, Lonny Vanatta, the top

Gill used the simple ex-
pedient of wearing her
Molsons tocque around all

weekend, especially in the’

presence of cameras.

racer on the world pro tour, shows what it is all about.
At every public occasion the names on his skis, boots,
bindings and socks are prominently displayed. The
skiers have few objections about this because the
sponsors pay them well when they win.

February 1 to 10

Exhibition Park, Vancouver

a great Summer on the Water

All the latest in Power Boats,
Sail Boats, runabouts, equipment
and marine accessories

Over 200 exhibits,
$10 million on view

friday, Feb. 1: Noon to 10 pm
Saturdays: Noon to 10 pm
Sundays: Noon to 6 pm

Mon., Tues., Wed.: 6 pm tp 10 pm
Thurs. and Friday: Noon to 10 pm

Adult: $3.00 © Junior (5-15): $1.50

(Se Catprvens (REE OA Thurs teb 7 only)

Free “Boat Show Bucks”

Everything for

Senior Citizens: $150

.

Saturday night, the Labbats
coordinator almost begged
me to get her to wear a
Labbats tocque which he

had previously said they had
run out of.

It may seem a small
thing, but in the sponsor-
laden world of pro skiing
where every brand name is

prominently displayed, a
company like Labatts is
super-sensitive.

But this paranoia about

good media coverage and
prominent display of brand
names is coupled with the
carefree attitude of the ski
resort.

The same Labatts person
who was so upset about the
Molsons tocque allegedly
enjoyed himself throwing
snowballs at the CTV in-
terviewer, who was kindly
trying to make sure that the
Labatts flag showed up in the
background ‘of his in-
terviews, while he was on the
air.

It was a crazy, very slick
and colourful atmosphere
that you could do little
except to sit back and
enjoy.

~~" BS-Wednesday, January 30, 1980 - North

Shore News _

Pro-skiing is going to
‘become a successful sports-
entertainment event one day
because it has all the
ingredients.

But it is never going to be
a live spectator sport
because the people who go
up to the top of mountains
are not the spectator types.

And despite the fact that I
don’t downhill ski, ['d love
to cover the event any time
in the future because there
are few things nicer than
standing on a mountain early
on Sunday morning
before they switch on the
music.

is sports your business’:

If it is, you can use tts
space to reach every sport -
minded person on the Nor 3
Shore Get in touch with yo r
customers

Call display advertising

980-0511

Peter Brand Invites You

to Take Advantage of This

*3002

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