Readers Respond: Letters to the Editor

Big Air

In the Hans Truöl photo shown in the July-August issue (“Big Air”), the caption says it was taken in Lech, Australia. That would be Lech, Austria! The location is actually nearer to Zürs than to Lech.

Truöl took several different photos of a skier jumping over Porsche cars along that section of highway between Zürs and the Flexen Pass. The occasion was the 1956 Porsche Club Winter Ski-Treffen. For many years, starting in the mid-1950s, Porsche Club skiers would gather in Zürs with their cars for this annual event.
I’ve been back to the Arlberg a dozen times and skied the trails on both sides of the road. Never have I seen the snowbanks as high as they were in that photo. Another sign of global warming. 

Bill Hayman, PSIA Instructor
Jay Peak, Vermont

The Jet Stix Story

Several years ago, you published an article about ski inventions (“Bygone Gizmos,” September-October 2017). The story mentioned that Jack Nagel, who ran the ski school and shop at Washington’s Crystal Mountain, was the inventor of the Jet Stix. Although Jack was a valued member of the company, his responsibilities were primarily financial.

The Jet Stix story begins at Crystal, where I was a ski patroller and weekend racer. To improve my racing technique, I needed more leverage to recover from the occasional backseat turn. I decided to make some fiberglass extensions to attach to the back of my boot, and I could really feel the difference. After making an additional pair with a strap so anyone could try them, Jack asked if he could take a test run. At the end of the run he said, “Let’s go up to my office. We need to talk.” Bottom line: We changed boot design for the better!

Brent Gray
Elizabeth, Colorado

Positive ID: K2 Ad Was Shot in Seattle

In the January-February 2020 issue, the back cover was a reprint of a K2 ad from the 1970s, with a caption asking if readers knew where the photo had been shot. I’m quite sure that’s the White-Henry-Stuart Building at the southeast corner of 5th Avenue and Union Street in downtown Seattle. My office was a few blocks from that corner. At lunch time, I’d often walk past to visit the city’s leading sports store, Eddie Bauer—the only store that carried true seal-skin climbers.

John Hansen
Seattle, Washington