BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Vancouver Daily Province, April 10 1942

Ski Heil: CLEVER PEOPLE

by Don Tyrell

     One of the most familiar sights to week-end skiers on Grouse, Hollyburn and Seymour Mountain for the past two decades is Yitkon Ho. He is one of the very few Chinese skiers in Vancouver, and probably the best known.
     He got his start some six years ago after he had tramped the hills from Seymour to the Lions in both winter and summer. A Veteran climber, he has made 16 ascents of the western Lion, climbed Crown Mountain and the Camel and most of the other peaks on the North Shore.
     Lately he has grown a wisp of a graying black chin beard, making his appearance all the more striking. No youngster, Ho admits to 30 years spent in Canada but coyly ignored answering our questions about his age.
     Although he is far from the expert class, Ho skis well enough to get around almost anywhere. Last Sunday we saw him snow-plowing down the steep peak of Grouse without any trouble at all. He's not flashy but he gets there.

Speaks Esperanto

     Favorite mountain of this Chinese ski fan is Seymour. The wide open slopes of the Seymour range give him better fun than either Grouse or Hollyburn. "Lottsa loom on Seymour," Ho says in his none too perfect English.
     While Ho's English still leaves something to be desired, he's a keen student of Esperanto, which he claims was much easier to learn than English. "It takes me three years to learn Esperanto, and English person learn it in six months," he told us.
     We first me Ho on Hollyburn Ridge Christmas Day, 1936, when the boys at the ski camp were celebrating their tenth anniversay at First Lake. Before that we had seen him hiking around all three hills, but had never seen him on skis.
     Three lessons from Seymour's instructor, Paul Curry, gave Ho his fundamental knowledge of skiing. Now he plans to advance a bit and learn the stem turn. In his tailor shop yesterday he demonstrated a bit of "bend ze knees" technique and said he is investigating the possibilities of the tempo turn.
     His equipment is almost primitive in its simplicity. For boots, he wears what he calls "niney-five cent boots." Lack of steel edges on his boards causes him trouble on icy days, bu he gets by well enough.
     This week-end Ho will favor Seymour to take in the Mt. Seymour Ski Club's big downhill race from the peak of Pump to De Pencier Lake.

(article continues with Seymour ski race information)


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