Page 49 - 1955

THE liEET
There 1e aomeUmes an eTent to which people look forward all year, Such 1a the Canadian Junior Team and Individual Bld. C.bampions.bips. Boys and girls from all OTer Canada eagerly await tllis meet.
This year there wae an Ontario team of two boys from Toronto and three from S'Oilbury, who bad prOTen themselTes outstanding in the Ontario meets, sent to Lao Beauport, Quebec, Jim Georges of Owen Bound flew down to ooaoh the Ontario team.
linn days before the race there is ·an almost unbelievable teneion in the air. So 11111cll can depend upon the conditiona of the snow and the type of wax each racer puts on his eld.a.
The orosa-oountey raoe wae scheduled for nine o'clock Saturday morning, In this type of competition r~hm, stamina, and waxing are wbat count, It was a bitter cold morning wi1i.b a wind blowing that out your face w1t.b razor blasts. I braved the weather to wato.b the boys come tllrougb. the tiniall gate.
For the Ontario team =o.b depended upon thia race because tllis waa their beet !IYent. When they oame in for first place and the aeoond man to count placed third, this was well praTed. This racked up ~ pointe to get an excellent lee.d OTer the other teams. In thil meet, t.be tilDe and positiO!l ot the first two men in eao.b competition brought po:lde tor their team.
'n1en followed a rush baok to our lodgings, a quick luno.b !llld on to the all-izaporknt wu Job tor tile downhill tbat afternoon. We tested and ta.ted, t171ng to find the right kind of wax for the fast, oold snow, I oan re~er rubbing it into 1117 llkis with 1117 bare ha.oda until the;y burned 111m tire. linally the sld.s seemed aatiataotory and we started 011t to--tile sld-hills.
All tne oompet1tore tramped tile course until it was in perfect oondit ion. The w1JI4 was atill blowing, a miniatuJ"e blu'rioane. Up at the top of the course we were all JokiJic, trying to reliBTB the tension tllet was working up to a higher pito.b, Alt.bougll our team had a good lead, it .bad to place well in each race to keep ahead.
'l'he girls were racing firat, and I was surprisingly calm. The first girl started
oft, Boon I found myself in the starting gate. "Rea~l Threel Tllol OneS Gol" The 11111 was a fast one and work on 1111 sld.s paid ott. I had reached the finish line over two
seconds ahead of the next competitor. Then t.be boys started down, The times were good. 'lith nearly the last nUJDber was one of our team members tram Sulibuey. 'fhen he 081118 through the finia.b gate there was a lmsh as the timers consulted their 'IRltehee. 8uddeftl7 there
was a real war-whoopS The time in whio.b .be .bad apeeded down the coarse was a new .bill record. 'Dlia meant more pointe for Ontario.
Bun~ morni.og bl'OQBilt the slalom oanpetitions. As the snow conditions were still the same, few of the racers put new wax on their sld.s. Outside it waa twenty below aero, and tbat same 1o,- wind 111'8S blcnr1"8 lll!cUy. TAe slal0111 ccuree was • ...e ot flags aM. 'be col4 ao intense that it was .bard to stand still long enough to at~ where the pairs of polee with coloured flags were placed.
Finally we got started and the racers left the starting gate in rapid aucceBiion.
I picked my ~ down thro~ tba seta of flaga, detemined not to be disqualified, aometlling wio.b saTan boya and two girla did in the triolq course. Too detel'IBined to do well, members of a= team fell, sane m1BB1ng gates, giving othar teams a chance to gain on thelll.
The Jumping on Bun~ afternoon wae tbe laet event. Aa girla do not indulge in th11 thrilling apart, I .bad the pleasure of watching. Tile two boys from Toronto were the main jUJDpera on the team and it one of them tell, the lmge Pepsi-Cola trop.by would be loat. The auapenae ran ll1g.1 as tbe 1118et commenced. In t.bia competiti011 there are three jwapa, one a trial whiall does not count e.nd. t.ba ~wo wllioh are Judged for st7le 8Jld meuured for diet!Ul~Je. Both boys made nice Jumps, placing fifth and aixth with few team competitors in better poaitions.
It was a day of rejoicing for all of us. Ontario l!ad cleaned up in nearly all eventa. Hone oame the honour and tbe silTerwareJ
Helen Weid&o, Xo
Yirat in Intanaediate Es~