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Stu Campbell Memorial
Stuart Duncan Campbell, 12/26/42 – 12/4/08
Obituary
Known throughout the skiing world, Campbell fashioned a career from his own understated elegance, both on skis and with his ability to put words to the act of gliding on snow. He grew up skiing in Bennington, Vermont, and was a 4-event ski racer (slalom; giant slalom; cross-country; ski jumping) while a student at Middlebury College. He graduated from Middlebury in 1964 with a BA in American Literature and received his master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Vermont in 1972.Campbell taught English literature and coached skiing at Harwood Union High School and at the Valley Junior Racing Club from 1967-69 before settling in Stowe as Technical Director of the Sepp Ruschp Ski School. Campbell moved from Stowe to Heavenly Valley, California, in the late 1970s, where he served as Director of Skier Services. He oversaw Heavenly’s ski school, other skier services and a very active race department that hosted World Cup, professional and celebrity ski races. He spent more than a dozen winters at Heavenly (though during that time he continued to spend his summers, writing, in Stowe). He returned to Stowe full time in 1997 and led the development, construction and opening of The Country Club of Vermont, pursuing his late-in-life passion for the sport of golf.
Campbell’s extraordinary grasp of the technical elements of skiing and ski teaching led him to positions with the Professional Ski Instructors of America as a Demonstration Team member, as co-chairman of the Technical Committee and as an examiner with PSIA’s Eastern division.
But it was as a writer for Ski Magazine that Campbell mentored the greatest number of skiers. He served as Technical and Instruction Editor at Ski from the mid 1970s until his death, penning everything from illustrated quick tips to feature articles. “The art of skiing,” Campbell wrote in 1991, “is, ultimately, the search for sensation.” He encouraged the reader to use his skis “like a draftsman’s compass” to scribe arcs on snow. He saw skis as “tools for sculpting space on the tilt.”
Campbell also wrote ski instruction books, including Ski With the Big Boys, The Way to Ski, and, with Tim Petrick, Good Things to Know about Gliding on Snow
.Some of his Vermont neighbors knew him best for his books on gardening and alternative house design, including 1975’s Let it Rot!, which helped start the home composting movement, and The Underground House Book (1980). Campbell and his wife Carol West-Campbell lived for 28 years in a radically earth-bermed house in Stowe.
In September, the Vermont Ski Museum awarded Campbell the first Paul Robbins Ski Journalism Award for “lifetime commitment to ski journalism with ethics, humor and good taste. . .” He told the gathering at the museum to “get up on the mountain and make lots and lots and lots of turns. Every turn you make is good for the soul.”
He leaves behind his wife of 23 years, Carol West, his mother Helen L. Campbell of Stowe, his brother Alan and his wife Heidi of Huntington, his daughter Cricket Kadoch and her husband Aaron of Bend, Oregon, and his son Gregory of Waterbury, along with 2 grandsons, Aiden Jacob Duncan and Joshua Stuart Asher, 3 nephews, Mason, Abbott and Owen Rachampbell and an aunt, Virginia Thomas of Bakersfield.
Services were held at the Stowe Community Church on Monday, December 8th at 11:00am.
A Clinic with Stu
I had an awesome day of skiing today. As a Ski School newbie, I managed to get myself included in a clinic that we've been doing Mon.-Wed. Today, we started the day skiing with Dave (Merriam), and then swapped him at lunch for Stu. Both of them were just awesome skiers and instructors (and I mean that in the way that the Death Star is an awesome weapon of intergalactic destruction). We met Dave at the Demo Center (this is at Stowe, by the way), and I jumped on his chair for the first ride up. He had said that we would be working on braquage so I said "what's that?" -- everyone else there being certified PSIA types of some level or another already knew what he was talking about. So he explained what it is. Steering with the hip joint, which I have heard of on this forum, but never tried.When we got off the lift, we went for a warm-up run, and I jumped right on Dave's six to see what his skiing is all about. After maybe two turns on the flat trail leading off of the summit, I was already thinking, "hmm... he really is that good". Just tooling along, he was leaving two perfect tracks in the snow and I could really see that he has some serious awareness of what all his parts are doing. I won't try to get technical, because I can't, but believe me, he looks good.
Anyhow, after the warm-up run it was time to break it down brecage style. I don't want to bore everyone here, so I won't go into a lot of detail. We started the first run with fully skidded braquage turns nearly side slipping. This was pretty cool, and required an awareness of your stance width. It was interesting to see how much effect widening the stance had, and also, to see how a lot of people's perceptions of their stance was different from reality. Throughtout the session, we added an element at a time until we were skiing full speed carved turns that were steered from our hip joints. This was one of the first times that I've tried something totally different in my skiing, and what is cool about it is that I liked it and could see how it applies throughout my skiing. By the time that noon rolled around, and we had to bid Dave adieu, I had decided to make this hip thing a permanent element in my normal turn.
We then rode up to the Octagon for lunch, and afterwards we met Stu for his half of the day. His topic was "The shape of things to come", or something like that. Basically, talking about turn shape as well as shaped skis, and how to teach people coming from straight skis. Stu did a warm-up run too, and while I can't describe his skiing too well, it was immediately apparent that it was quite different from Dave's. I was still feeling my braquage action, and loving the run. At the bottom, we did a little boot work. We stood on one foot, and tried to apply constant rotational force to our one foot. This proved to be impossible. When we got back to the top, Stu had us start by doing totally skidded, but round turns for a little while, thus dispelling the myth that a shaped ski must be on edge and cannot be skied flat. He then had us ski on the middle of the ski as well as the slow part (the tip), and the fast part (the tail). As we added element upon element, it soon appeared to me that everything we were doing was the exact opposite of what we had been doing all morning, and we were still making big, ripping, carved turns that felt good . In fact, one of the final elements that we added or at least talked about and I added, was to push the outer ski forward during the turn (this instead of pulling the inside ski back). Even though the outer ski didn't really get ahead of the inside ski, the move made the tips more parallel than they would otherwise have been... and it felt cool. Once I had added this move though, it was clear... all braquage was gone. To get the outside ski forward, the hip had to go too. In fact during one run, we bombed past Dave and he jokingly yelled to me "open that stance."
All in all, it was really cool, my Ah-ha moments were discovering those braquage based turns, and feeling that little acceleration as I pushed that tip out (not too much though, or I felt like I was putting myself in the backseat). It was really cool to ski in two completely opposite ways and be able to make great turns both ways. I quess these two styles can fight it out within me for dominance. By the same token though, Stu says he will be talking about braquage tomorrow... we'll see how that goes. (Erik Timmerman)
What Made Stu a Great Coach
I'm going to give a turbo synopsis of what we did today. I'm also going to tell you why I like skiing with Stu. We skied a lot. There is no jargon. Our first run was a warm-up run, but we were to try and ski quietly an dalso we could not pass Stu. I didn't realize at the time, but I guess that not being able to pass was a stealth way to get us skiing the slow line fast. <warning - I just realised this won't be a short post afterall> I think the next run was the same thing, trying to keep our skis quiet. Third run skis quiet, but go across the hill. Pick a spot that is too far up the hill and try to go there (slow line fast again). Fourth run Keep skis/boots the same distance apart in all parts of the turn. Fifth run keep ski tips even. Sixth run focus on making the edge change fast but gentle. Seventh run get the outside leg long. And finally bring a little hip into it. In fact he mentioned the clossal "Waiststeering Thread". I don't hink he ever used a PSIA word, rotary, pressure, etc. Oops, he did say braucauge once. This is his challenge to all ESA East coaches. No PSIA speak, no jargon.It's beautiful to see how much can be taught with so little. It's nice to explore your skiiing yourself. Let me rephrase that Stu sets you up to figure out how to ski better. He doesn't just tell you how to do it. It's fun to rip the really slow line really fast. (Erik Timmerman)
Stu on Subjectivism in Skiing
I LOVE the phrase "delusional states of perceived competence" because it's so right on. I guess skiing is largely about feeling good about yourself, and to that end, there are any number of people out there eager to display their incompetence.In the lates 50s or early 60's, John Fry (then editor and still a contributor to SKI) invented NASTAR -- NAtional STAndard Race -- as a way to rate and handicap skiers. The NASTAR formula remains very much in tact to this day, thanks to Fry's clear vision and accurate math. (John also conceived the Nation's Cup, awarded to that country which amasses the greatest number of alpine World Cup points over the course of a season. I had the honor of awarding that trophy to the Austrian Ski Team in Crans Montana, SUI several years ago.)
For the most part, NASTAR, except in a few isolated pockets, never took hold as a way to rank skiers. The general skiing public never bought into it in a big way. To the majority of Americans -- even among elite nonracers -- skiing is about style points much more than about elapsed time.
Skiing evaluation for amateurs remains highly subjective, some would say judgemental. Very early attempts to offer merit-badge type rewards to skiers who reached various competence levels -- made by PSIA and others -- met with a less than lukewarm response.
Judged freestyle, freeride or extreme skiing events, while great to watch, are at first plagued by controversy, then later by increasingly restrictive rules that stifle creativity and self expression.
I wish I had a solution to offer, but I don't. Without a clock great skiing remains in the eye of the beholder. And we don't all agree.
