Sport: Cyclone on the Slopes

Fortnight ago, the University of Denver’s skinny, asthmatic Charles Ferries, 22, was just another also-ran on the fiercely competitive European ski circuit. A member of the U.S. Alpine ski team since 1960, Ferries had won a couple of races in the U.S., none at all in the Alps, was noted mainly for a helter-skelter skiing style that neatly matched his nickname: “Cyc,” for cyclone. But last week Cyc Ferries was the sensation of the 1962 season. He had scored successive slalom victories at Austria’s Kitzbühel and Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo, was a solid favorite to capture the slalom again this week at the Fédération Internationale de Ski (F.I.S.) world championships in Chamonix, France.

Old Jinx. To win at Chamonix, Ferries will need the speed of a sprinter and the agility of an acrobat; he must thread his way twice through the tortuous course at breakneck speed. He will have to stave off the challenge of such superb skiers as Austria’s nimble Gerhard Nenning and France’s bull-necked Guy Périllat—who swept every major Alpine title in 1961. Ferries will have to lick an old jinx: in 28 years of trying, no U.S. male skier has ever brought home an F.I.S. or Olympic Alpine championship. He may also have to beat the F.I.S.—which at week’s end was threatening to cancel the championships because East Germany’s ski team had been refused papers for travel in the West. But even if the F.I.S. cleared the slopes, Cyc Ferries would remain the most devastating cyclone on skis.

Son of a Houghton, Mich., dentist, Ferries has been swooshing down snow-covered slopes ever since he was five. “We lived on a hill overlooking the town,” he remembers. “It wasn’t much of a mountain—just a ridge with a 400-ft. vertical drop. But grandma lived in town, and I used to ski downhill to pick up goodies.” Still only a part-time skier, Ferries was good enough at 14 to place ninth in the slalom at the U.S. junior championships. In 1957 he packed off to Aspen, Colo., to polish his technique. He improved so quickly that he decided to risk his savings on an Alpine tour. Ferries still shudders at the recollection. “I fell in all the down hills. I was tense, and my reflexes always failed.” By 1960 Ferries was still falling—at Kitzbühel, St.-Moritz, Squaw Valley. At Stowe, Vt., he streaked through the slalom in record time—only to be disqualified for straddling the final gate.

No Caution. Despite his mounting misfortunes, Ferries refused to change his daredevil racing style. “In this game,” he explains, “you can’t afford to be cautious. You just have to go as fast as you can.” Now Ferries has finally found the control to match his speed. At Kitzbühel fort night ago, he ranked eighth in the slalom after a mediocre 77.2-sec. first pass at the course. On his second run, Ferries clocked a sizzling 69.7 sec.—fastest time of the day—to eke out a .7-sec. victory over France’s Périllat. Last week at Cortina, he picked up 1.4 sec. on his second pass, beat France’s Charles Bozon by .4 sec. Said Ferries: “At the very least, you have to be confident. I am.”