When Bill Koch chases Vladimir Smirnov up that wall, your video conversion didn't capture the spectators cheering him on: "Go BILL! ... C'mon Bill! Stay with him Bill. Cmon Kochie, stay with him Kochie." Hope you didn't erase the original!
AWESOME, eh? +:^] YEP, great skiing and great commentators.
I must have edited out the commercials while making the tapee and missed that part. Not bad quality though for a tape that has been sitting around and not viewed for over a decade.
I do wonder about two things though and I'd like to get good answers.:)
Why didn't they often skate with both legs, but with only one? For example in Ramsau '85 the track was probably too narrow for proper skating, but it can't be the case about Bibawik race.
Secondly. Why did they run the uphill sections instead of skating?
jens, this was the early days of skating, skating evolved from the marathon skate, with one leg in the track and one leg skating, used by some skiers whose wax was failing, koch popularized this skate on the world cup in I believe 82-83 season. The skiers are herringboning up steeps because they probably feel at this point in the skating evolution that it was faster than skating.
In addition, skiers at that point hadn't developed the same upper-body power that modern skiers have. The focus then was more on the legs. As upper body strength and technique improved, skiers were able to pull themselves up more hills using their core and arms.
Hey, awesome video BirkieBob! Thanks so much for posting these. As one who skied with Boonstra and Brochman, these videos really get the goosebumps going. Thanks again.
Thanks Paul, I skied with Koch and Audun at a race clinic at Royal Gorge in the early 80's, got a great picture of Koch after a crash with his butt stuck 2 feet deep in a snowbank. Audun BLEW US AWAY with the first preview of the V1 skate going up the steep Kidd Lake trail. A good buddy of mine was friends with Audun, he usually spent post racing season out west here for a few weeks and would sell us his used ski stock and uni's.
WOW.. Good old times from the beginning of the skating era. Gunde and Torgny were both my favourite skiers at that time. Later came Per Elofsson who with Torgny had probably the best skating technic of all time.
Kari Ristanen was the only skier from Finland ( my country) who was able to catch up with the new style..however he never won anything.
Steve, I have a box of tapes that I have just started digitizing, unfortunately I found some nice stuff that (ouch) got taped over. This old stuff is fun to watch, especially listening to them talk about the then skating controversy.-Bob
this is cool im a high school racer and i have started there and raced some of those trails
etekplayer434 2 years ago
Awesome Video!
Pierre Harvey just awesome!
He went to both Olympics in '84. Cycling and XC Skiing.
He won the 5-mila at Holmenkollen in '88. Which makes him just about perfect in my eyes.
Watch for his son Alex!
Canuckastan 3 years ago 2
Awesome video. Great to see Koch, Svan, Mogren, Smirinov, etc. in action.
zenmachinefilms 3 years ago
Gunde Svan - One of the greats of all time.
xedvux 3 years ago
When Bill Koch chases Vladimir Smirnov up that wall, your video conversion didn't capture the spectators cheering him on: "Go BILL! ... C'mon Bill! Stay with him Bill. Cmon Kochie, stay with him Kochie." Hope you didn't erase the original!
Biffbradford 4 years ago
AWESOME, eh? +:^] YEP, great skiing and great commentators.
I must have edited out the commercials while making the tapee and missed that part. Not bad quality though for a tape that has been sitting around and not viewed for over a decade.
BirkieBob 4 years ago
I thought I was the only one who taped this ... AWESOME, eh? +:^]
Biffbradford 4 years ago
Hey Everyone This is great, Please post more!!
radroy1 4 years ago
Sorry, not Ramsau, but Seefeld.:P
44jens44 4 years ago
Great stuff!
I do wonder about two things though and I'd like to get good answers.:)
Why didn't they often skate with both legs, but with only one? For example in Ramsau '85 the track was probably too narrow for proper skating, but it can't be the case about Bibawik race.
Secondly. Why did they run the uphill sections instead of skating?
44jens44 4 years ago
jens, this was the early days of skating, skating evolved from the marathon skate, with one leg in the track and one leg skating, used by some skiers whose wax was failing, koch popularized this skate on the world cup in I believe 82-83 season. The skiers are herringboning up steeps because they probably feel at this point in the skating evolution that it was faster than skating.
- Bob
BirkieBob 4 years ago
In addition, skiers at that point hadn't developed the same upper-body power that modern skiers have. The focus then was more on the legs. As upper body strength and technique improved, skiers were able to pull themselves up more hills using their core and arms.
ellukeaduke 3 years ago
Hey, awesome video BirkieBob! Thanks so much for posting these. As one who skied with Boonstra and Brochman, these videos really get the goosebumps going. Thanks again.
Paul in Duluth
pmeysemb 4 years ago
Thanks Paul, I skied with Koch and Audun at a race clinic at Royal Gorge in the early 80's, got a great picture of Koch after a crash with his butt stuck 2 feet deep in a snowbank. Audun BLEW US AWAY with the first preview of the V1 skate going up the steep Kidd Lake trail. A good buddy of mine was friends with Audun, he usually spent post racing season out west here for a few weeks and would sell us his used ski stock and uni's.
BirkieBob 4 years ago
WOW.. Good old times from the beginning of the skating era. Gunde and Torgny were both my favourite skiers at that time. Later came Per Elofsson who with Torgny had probably the best skating technic of all time.
Kari Ristanen was the only skier from Finland ( my country) who was able to catch up with the new style..however he never won anything.
JSEITSONEN 4 years ago
They were my favorite also. The Swedes really mastered the skating technique early on.
BirkieBob 4 years ago
thanks for posting this Birkie Bob. This was the only World Cup race I ever got to be in. Fun to get a little nostalgic here!! Steve Sellers
xcskierboy 4 years ago
Steve, I have a box of tapes that I have just started digitizing, unfortunately I found some nice stuff that (ouch) got taped over. This old stuff is fun to watch, especially listening to them talk about the then skating controversy.-Bob
BirkieBob 4 years ago