| From the City of Tacoma, way out west in God's country where
the billowy
clouds rest on the upper most branches of the giant evergreen and the
waters
of the Puget Sound lap at the snow clad slopes of Mt. Rainier, has come
a foursome of ski queens who have left their tracks in the everlasting
snows of time.
For these four, the Smith sisters, Ellis Ayr and Ethelynne, or "Skit," as she is better known, along with Gretchen Kunigk Fraser and Shirley McDonald, have captured eight national championships and numerous other titles since the gals first started competing for national honors back in 1935. But in addition to gathering in scores of championships of one sort or another, two of the quartet, the Smith sisters, are directly responsible for the mushroom like growth of the ski sport in the Pacific Northwest. The impetus given skiing by these girls has resulted in thousands of city-bred folks of the Northwest taking to winter sports. Now the faces of these city-slickers, tanned by the warm rays of the winter sun, are a glowing tribute to the youngsters who started out in the ski game when so little was known of the sport that, whenever one mentioned that he or she was a skier, the natural response was "how far can you jump?" All four girls grew up in the same neighborhood, and likewise
they became
members of the Washington Ski Club or its predicessor, the Paradise Ski
Club, early in their careers. It was this group to which much of
the credit of their phenomenal careers must go, for it enabled them to
take part in races of national and international importance. It was back in 1935 that the Tacoma ski queens first broke
into prominence, when Smith sisters skied off with the major awards in
the inital running of the women's national championships in downhill
and slalom in Paradise Valley, on the rugged slopes of Mount Rainier.
Ellis Ayr, who had been skiing for a couple of seasons only, made a
thrilling run down the side of Panorama to Edith Creek Basin in the
remarkable time of 1:57.6 to best a field of 14 women competitors. The pretty bank cashier, who was also active in golf and
tennis circles and who had started her competitive career by taking the
first women's slalom run in Ranier National Park in 1933, took a couple
of spills in the downhill journey but managed to hold a 36 second lead
over her nearest competitor, Grace Carter of Seattle. The next day dawned bright on the Tacoma contingent, for
sister "Skit" captured the slalom in running away style, turning in a
time of 1:35.8 for the two runs to best Miss Carter by three seconds.
But the big thrill of the day for the 10,000 spectators on hand came
when it was anounced that Ellis Ayr, who finished fourth in the slalom
to add to her first in the downhill, had captured the combined title.
Miss Carter was second and "Skit", who placed 11th in the
downhill, grabbed off sixth place. But winning the national championships was not as easy as all
that for the Tacoma lassies. The first times the girls went skiing it
was necessary for them to hike a couple of miles on a steep hill ....... (to be continued.....this is a long article [last updated 7/15/04] ) -Howard Clifford END |
