Inside the booklet highlighting the 1965 NCAA champions were ads for the new generation of skis that were metal instead of wood, new boots that buckled instead of laced and -- billed as "now available" -- the soundtrack for the "Sound of Music."

On the cover is the picture, in pale yet full color, of a young skier on a pair of metal skis, passing a bamboo gate with his shoulders turned away, his hips in but not touching the pole, hands held high and skis a safe distance away.It is a picture of a young Jim Gaddis of the University of Utah winning the NCAA slalom. It was a style that won races -- smooth, flowing, with arching turns and absolute control. It is a style that today would send a skier to the back of the pack.

Of the four Olympic alpine skiing events -- the slalom, the giant slalom (also known as the GS), the downhill and the super G -- not one has changed more than the slalom.

The four events are divided into two categories, with the slalom and giant slalom known as the "technical" races and the downhill and super G dubbed as the "speed" races.

The "America's Opening" World Cup races conducted annually at Park City Mountain Resort are the "technical" variety, although the local lack of snow has forced a postponement and relocation of the World Cup's first slalom and giant slalom races of the 1999-2000 season.

Once considered a "flowing ballet," the slalom today features racers who look like gladiators and ski like hockey players. Were it not for the fact that new gates right themselves, there wouldn't be a single one standing after the first two racers.

Instead of going around the gates, racers ski over them.

Today's slalom racers wear helmets, face guards, pads on the chins and forearms, chest protectors and padded gloves. Plus there are deflectors on the ski poles. It's skier versus standing gates.

Both Gaddis and longtime racing competitor Alan Engen say that skiing the GS came naturally but that the slalom was a complete relearning experience.

What changed the look of the slalom was the introduction of the new breakaway gates.

Gaddis and Engen recall that running into a bamboo gate was like swatting a metal pole. "It hurt . . . a lot," said Engen. So, instead of running over them, they skied around.

With the introduction of the knock-down gates, and in the drive to shave off seconds, skiers started running at the gates and not around them.

All-out speed wins the downhill, controlled speed is the secret to the Super G and anticipation and control are keys to the giant slalom. But it's a combination of a straight line and brute force that wins slaloms.

A slalom course is a series of tightly set gates placed close together in a tight corridor. Turns come quickly and in patterns.

"The secret to the slalom used to involve memorizing the course and getting into a rhythm as quickly as possible," recalled Gaddis. "Racers were always involved in helping to prepare the course, and you used the time to memorize gates. Now there are coaches and volunteers to prepare the course.

"They always used to throw in a trap or trick gate and you had to know where it was. It was usually a real narrow gate or one pushed off to the side intended to throw you off your rhythm."

The slalom continues to be called a risk event, meaning it's a race where inches matter and the little mistake can put a skier out of a race.

The giant slalom is still considered the most technical of the event. The secret is a good GS run is for a racer to anticipate each turn and to initiate a turn early enough to allow the skier to carve rather than slide through a turn, and then be in position to set up for the next turn.

"A main difference in the GS," said Engen, "is they continue to improve on how to ride a ski. The secret is to get into a rhythm early and carry through to the end. You could get away with a few technical errors when I was racing and still place in the top three. You can't do that today. There are too many elite skiers who don't make mistakes."

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The downhill is based on speed. The skier who can go the fastest, and stay upright, wins.

Downhill skis have always been longer than skis used in other events. Longer skis are more stable at high speeds.

Racers make as few turns as possible and still follow the course. They pre-jump bumps, preferring to keep the skis on the ground, and go into a body tuck when course conditions allow.

The Super G is the newest member of the race series. It is a blend of the downhill and giant slalom. It is intended to be fast, but it requires more control on the part of the skier. It was introduced in the 1970s as a made-for-TV event. A number of the early racers -- such as the Mahre brothers, Phil and Steve -- refused to ski the Super G because of it.

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