European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 6, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 23  nordic skiing love it or leave it question Why Cross country ski i have More Tun walking my dog through lie mow than trudging through in in skis. Downhill Elding yes. Flying Down the Alps. Rid ing the chairlift Back up. Now we re Talkin. But nordic the Skinny skis Don t do inc work. Your sweaty legs and arms do. You Don t ride the Hill. You climb h. Remember beginner ski lessons walking your skis sideways up inc slope that s my idea of Cross country skiing. Drudgery. And yet people actually like nordic skiing. Loveit. Spend hours pushing the left ski ahead of the right ski. Cover loads of Kilometres pumping the right pole past the let pole. Uphill downhill no Hilt. Any where. Sure it appeals mostly to the fitness crowd but really it s fun. Once you gel a bit More proficient Atil comfortable it s fun. The More challenging the trails. It can even be More  the speaker is Jim Arsenault. He s a 29-year-old army Captain stationed in Darmstadt Germany. He teamed to ski and walk probably in thai order As a tyke in Concord . When he could t make his Junior High s Alpine ski team he leaped into nordic. He got so proficient at it he made the West Point Cross country team. Last Winter he came with in 30 seconds of winning the v corps open division Cross country title. Next week Arsnault will make his second assault on the v corps championship. Bet on him. When the Usa eur meet follows smart Money will switch to Nuernberg s Randy Sapp the Vii corps Whiz who swept All military nordic Gold last year. I called Arsnault with my problem i tried Cross country skiing for the tint time lust week in Seefeld Austria. An olympic Cross country City some 200kilometers in trails for the taking. A patient instructor named Pepi. Ideal conditions. Yet after gliding and climbing and teetering along the 5-Kilomeler course i concluded this i. Ifs Bor ing 2. For every nordic skier Between 20 and 40 years old probably is were Over 65 it s a sport for retirees 3. In shrinks compared 10 Alpine skiing which blazed a gorgeous picture on a nearby Moun Tain. So Jim Why push skis through the Forest when you can easily walk it s a lot easier to ski with 2 feet of Snow. And you get a tree ride on the Down Hills Why waste younger years on a sport for retirees you can pick up something that you can continue doing later on in  Ai Senauit figures that nordic skiing appeals lotto groups physical fitness types and Back to nature people. Troy Laine who captained arc null s Darm Stadt team the last two years sees himself in the fitness group. "1 can t imagine How you would t like Illaine said when i gave him my nordic grievance. If you have desire to work out i can t Sec not liking Cross country Riding. People into Long distance running endurance Riporti like this thing. I m a runner so i love  Laine claimed second in inc v corps senior Divi Sion 30-39 Yean Cross country ski race last year. Unlike Cnenault who stuck with nordic Laine fared Well enough in the Alpine portion to capture the seniors me Isufi cup. Thai award combined the Best Points from Crois country slalom and giant Sla Lom. Laine won join Arsnault next week on the car Mitch rails. The 40-year-old san Diego native re tired at an army major last summer. He helps the Darmstadt team but won t travel with it to Bavaria. Laine must feel inc urge to drive Down there. Here s a triathlete who says of nordic skiing. The first Day i did it i loved it. He dismisses the walking argument with first you can t get the mental physical High walking that you can get Cross country skiing. Second the see la i so pretty outside. When you do is kilo Inaten in lot than an hour you re not walking any  other Laine ideas on nordic skiing most people into Cross country hard Are also int Competition. Recreational skiers would t even look at the courses set up for army  the inherent non stability of Cross country skis Are not meant for Speed if you Don t have the tech Nique it s difficult 10 keep the skis in the  Why Cross country ski you see what they say. Trenary Distant 2nd after comp sories Thomas grabs Lead in . Skate by Barry Wilner Tacoma Wash. A world Champion Debi Thomas got off to a sensational Start wednesday in defense other . Figure skating championship. Thomas took a big Lead Over Surpris ing Jill Trenary in the compulsory Fig ures which count for 30 percent of the scoring. The 19-year-old Champion from san Jose calif., had struggled recently with her compulsory is but had no prob lems this time sweeping first place with alanine judges i m very much satisfied Thomas said. I could t have done any belter. I fell really relaxed. I dreamed of the Day 1 would go out and do figures and feel to  Thomas is suffering from two sore achilles1 heels but said she was t both ered too much by the injuries on wednesday. I feel a lot better now that i Don t have any More figures said the 19-year old Thomas who prefers inc freestyle portion of the sport. My heels bothered me on the second figure but i ice massaged my toes and tendons so they d feel numb. I also took  Tiffany Chin the 1985 american Champion who was considered Thomas main challenger might have Bee searching for aspirin after a disappoint ing fourth place finish in the Compulos pics. She missed a tracing on a Loop on the final figure to drop behind Caryn Kadavy the 1986 . Runner up. For Trenary the second place finish in compulsory is was a pleasant Surprise. The be year old from Minnetonka minn., who trains with Kadavy in Colo Rado Springs colo., under renowned coach Carlo Fassi has been in the midst of a comeback from a skating Accident two years ago. She suffered severed mus cles and arteries in her left leg. Now she feels she is completely recovered. I am really proud of myself tre nary said. This is the Best figures i have Ever done in Competition. It exceeds my expectations and in feels  Trenary was injured during a practice session when she collided with another skater Kelly Webster and Webster s Blade sliced through Trenary s leg. Doc tors said she would be Lucky to skate again but Trenary was Bock on inc ice less than three months later. She was fifth in the nationals last Yea Rand won the . Olympic festival title last summer. I Don l know How i would have done if i was t injured she said. I was skat ing better than Ever. Sure it set me Back a Tittle. Bui t realized How much health Means How Happy i should be to be skat ing  at night defending champions Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner staged marvelous Short program in the pairs to sweep first place on the nine judges cards. With remarkable precision in their spins and Speed unmatched by the other couples Wachsman Waggoner easily held first place Over 19bsu.s, champions Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard. Schneider gives Swiss 7th ski Gold crans Montana Switzerland a Vreni Schneider triumphed Over the frustration that has dogged her through these world Alpine Slu championships winning thursday s women giant slalom and giving Switzerland its seventh Gold medal. The 22-year-old from Elm. A Moun Tain Village of 800 renowned for its min eral water Spring edged Mateja Svet of Yugoslavia by �56 of a second for the Lille Docking 2 minutes 21.22 seconds for her iwo runs. Secl starting the Sec Ond run 0.81 seconds behind the Leader finished in 2 21.78. Using the same skis on which she Wona world cup giant slalom at Saalbach Austria last month Schneider was 2.29 seconds ahead of teammate Maria Wal Liser who got the Bronze despite a bad first run mistake that Cost her a possible third Gold medal. Walliser edged teammate Michela Fig Ini for the Bronze clocking 2 23.5. Fig Ine was a scant Quarter second Island once again beaten by her Arch rival. Schneider who bad broken into Lea after a Bronze medal slipped from her grasp in tuesday s super a said she was Over Joyed by winning her favorite  crying ust two Days ago she said. Schneider had been overshadowed brother lop performers on the powerful Swiss team Walliser Figini and Erika Hess. Today it was my turn i had High Hopes for a medal in the giant slalom but i was very nervous Schneider said. Switzerland s seven golds in the eight races and the 13 medals including Wai Liser s Bronze Are both records for the world championships. Only Luxem Bourg s Mare Girardelli in the men s combined has broken the Swiss Rule. Schneider s second run of 1 11.26 was Only the fourth fastest but her big Lead from the first run was More than enough to hold off sect the Only yugoslav woman Ever to Wina championship medal Walliser Eig  after a 1 12.49 first run in which she badly misjudged a Gate flashed through her second run in 1 11.02, setting a Pace hard for those who followed to match. Until Svet made her second run Wallis or was in first place. Bui the yugoslav teen Ager the Junior world cup giant slalom Champion Cut the Corners and sped through the straights of the 47-Gate second course in 1 10.94, the fastest one Day. That put the pressure on Schneider. She has seven career world cup giant slalom victories a world cup Lille in the event and is a close second to Walliser in the current cup Overall standings. She had no championship not even a medal. She was 12th in the event in the last world championships at Dormio Italy two years ago with Svet 13th.Schneider s run started slowly with her first intermediate time 0.21 behind the fastest. The fans who lined the course were cheering and ringing cowbells and even the Swiss soldiers assigned to repair the nits and replace Gates dislodged by other skiers were waving hats As she charged put. By the midpoint she had dropped another 0.05 to Svet s Pace but the first run mar Gin held up and Schneider had her Gold.. Skiers who dominated the giant slalom in the 1984 olympics and world championships faired poorly this time. Diann Roife of Williamson n.y., the 1985 Champion failed to Complete her second run after a i6lh-place finish inthe first in 1 13.12. Eva Tward Okens of olympic Valley calif., inc Bronze medallist Al Dormio and i oth in her first run wound up 13th in 2 24.83. Debbie Armstrong of Seattle the olympic Gold medallist in 1984, wu17ih in 2 26.00. Tamara Mckinney of olympic Valley whose Bronze in the combined is the Only . Medal so far Here was a the in 2 26.55 and Beth my sen of Aspen. Colo., trailed with 2 29. J7