Ira Riklis sent along a photo of the skis he purchased after several other brands and models. The new skis would prove unfortunate, as discussed in an earlier post, for Ira and his leg.
The type of ski Ira Riklis used early on in his skiing adventures.
Regarding the previous post and photo, Ira Riklis comments: “The last pair is named for Jean Claude Killy, the French racer who at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble became only the second man ever (and still) to win all three men’s alpine events. There has since been added a fourth event, the Super Giant Slalom (or SuperG). However, no one since has won all three of the Slalom, Giant Slalom and Downhill.”
“He was my personal hero,” Rilkis continues. “In my desire to emulate him, I traded in my skis for a pair like those that Killy raced on, Dynamic VR17. Unfortunately, [...] I wasn’t competent to use a true racing ski at that time (I am, and do, now) and broke my leg within a week of trading up.”
Ira Riklis has supplied “a rather famous picture of Killy during the Slalom at Grenoble.” He says, “You can tell that he is on a pair of the VR17s by the distinctive angled, double black stripe on the “shovel” of the skis.”
Photo supplied by Ira Riklis
The middle pair of skis pictured here, as described by Ira Riklis: Attached is a picture of Head skis from the late 1960’s. The first pair are the Head Standards. The next are the Head 360’s, like the pair I bought myself using my bar mitzvah money. The last pair is named for Jean Claude Killy, the French racer who at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble became only the second man ever (and still) to win all three men’s alpine events.
Ira Riklis' first skis -- Head Standards -- next to Head 360s and Killys
Ira Riklis sends us this:
“The last picture is of many staff members in front of the original Charter Sports store at The Charter in Beaver Creek. Mike is the one in purple dressed in purple (Teflon) and holding his speed skiing skis. The one dressed for the Tour de France is in the picture of the management team, as is the lady holding the surf board. She has since moved back to Hawaii to pursue surfing full time. The one in the mountain bike gear with the medals around his neck is Jammis who is a nationally ranked and sponsored mountain biker. There not being a lot of money in professional mountain biking, he still works with us.”
The crew of Charter Sports
Mike Bartasuis and Ira Riklis at Ira Riklis' 50th birthday party
Let’s hope they didn’t go skiing directly after this event!