Skiing had rarely seen anything like it: in three weeks Guy Périllat, 20, had won three international championshipsat Switzerland's Wengen, Austria's Kitzbühel and France's Mégéve. Last week, as he returned from his triumphant tour to his native La Clusaz (pop. 1,200, including about 100 Périllats) in the French Alps, the whole town turned out to greet and acclaim the grinning, bull-necked man who is beyond dispute the king of the world's slopes.
Eskimo Pie. France's Périllat was all but born to his crown. His mother used to ski back and forth between La Clusaz and her family's Alpine farmhouse; his father ran...