I Skied the Thirties

Glynn A. Leyshon is a professor of physical education at the University
of Western Ontario, a former weekly columnist for the London Free Press
and author of 18 Sporting Stories.

The Nazi Olympics, ski boots that laced to the knee, ski hills without benefit of ski tows, billeting in cosy, snow-draped farmhouses, and the famous “Jack Rabbit” Johannsen. All these are part of Bill Ball’s book of skiing in the thirties.

While not a complete history of Canadian skiing by any means (Ball never skied in the west at all), this nostalgic look at the thirties records some important influences on skiing in Canada and has an interesting personal flavour. Certainly, the author is well equipped for his task, having helped to establish skiing in the Montreal area and competed in the 1936 Olympics as well as most major events in the eastern United States and Canada, over a period of several years.

Little mention is made of the Depression and its influence on skiing, but perhaps that is because equipment had not evolved to its present space-age state where the prices match the technological heights achieved. Ball talks of $1.95 skis, and custom-fitted boots for $25.00. Artificial snow was hardly thought of, and there were virtually no ski tows in the country. Ball’s recounting has an ambience as pleasing as the slopes themselves as he talks of the Red Bird Ski Club of McGill and its several outings, of the leaders in technique, of the development of equipment, and of the advance of women’s skiing. His final chapter is a brief biography of the famous Herman “Jack Rabbit” Johannsen, whose name appears throughout the book. At the time of writing Johannsen was still an active skier at 106! This book will be of interest to the sports historian and to the ski buff particularly, but it makes interesting reading for anyone who wants to turn back the clock for two hours.