THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407140184
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 58 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CAMDEN LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
In an era when the River City Ski Club has turned to bigger and better competition, an alumni of the group stopped by last weekend to ski just for the heck of it.
Chris Austin, formerly of Elizabeth City and now of Key West, Fla., made the trip to ski in the River City Challenge in the Men II Novice Division. Austin, who skied five buoys at 34 mph on the slalom course on the choppy Pasquotank River, was in his first competitive tournament ever. In fact, Austin was president of the River City Ski Club before it even sponsored a tournament.
``The club was nothing like it is now,'' Austin said. ``It used to be just a bunch of guys having fun. We had a platform and a slalom course. We had some ski shows and that's it. When Jeff (Mitchell, the current tournament director) took it over, it really became a competitive club.
``This is great for the sport,'' said Austin, dripping with the iced tea-looking water of the Pasquotank. ``Anytime you've got an organized event in the public eye, it generates interest. People get curious and say `I'd like to try that.' ''
Austin, who said he would like to ski competitively in three or four tournaments a year, assessed his performance by holding two fingers an inch apart and said he missed the sixth buoy by ``this much.''
``I took a gamble. I've been opening up at 34 or 36 at practice. It would have been more prudent to open up at 32 today,'' he said.
Austin, who is a surface action officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, said the competition among skiers is not what drives the sport. It's the self-competition.
``If I ran a 36 today, I would move up to the next level,'' he said. ``So you will never be repressed by another skier. There's always somewhere for you to reach for no matter what level. Everyone is interested in seeing the other guy do better. Having fun is the name of the game.''
Austin, a 1984 graduate of Elizabeth City State University, was actually in the area on business. He had a conference to attend in Norfolk during the week but thought he would also get in some skiing.
``It was a good opportunity to come here and see some folks,'' he said. ``I'm just here to ski and meet with friends.'' by CNB