Testing ground for powderproof parkas

Expert American skiers who have become restless on the crowded trails are now discovering the special joys of floating through deep powder, once the almost private domain of a few ski instructors and their adventurous pals along the Continental Divide. The joys of powder can be brief ones for the skier who is not dressed for its special demands. A slight misstep in deep snow will catapult even a first-rate skier like the girl below into the feathery fluff. A powder skier's parka should have a smooth outer shell, with insulation on the inside. It should fit snugly around the hips, and its collar should be chin-high. The best powder parkas of the year were tested and photographed at Alta, Utah during the first week of the U.S. ski season. They are all designed by Bogner, the company that first put skiers into stretch pants and has been improving their form ever since.

San Francisco skier Rosmarie Tobin (far left) starts a nose dive in Alta powder. Rosmarie's parka (Bogner's Lagalb, $80) has a belt and snug collar to keep out the snow. Her Baruffaldi sun-and-snow shield ($2) and padded racer's gloves are imported by Iselin ($11). Alta Ski Instructor Tom Plofchan (center) swings through a turn in a parka that is snug at the hips (The Fleck, $69). Its collar zips to the chin, turns down like a turtleneck. Streamlined goggles ($5.50) are imported by Sandow. Jim Tobin (above) wears a zippered and snap-fastened high-collared jacket with hood (The Chamonix, $70).

Ted and Wilma Johnson (above), two of Alta's most accomplished powder skiers, wear stretch suits of wool and nylon by Bogner. The jacket of Ted's two-piece suit (The Albona, $150) has a high knit collar and reverses to smooth-finished nylon. The jacket worn by Wilma (The Sils, $65) is made of nylon with stretch inserts for a comfortable fit. It covers a one-piece Bogner jump suit (The Portillo, $90). To keep the powder out of their boots, Alta skiers sheath their ankles with elastic webbing sealed with Velcro and made by B. H. Weiss ($3). Even in deep powder there is always room for fashionable caprice. Adolfo's masked white fox helmet worn by Judy Hall (below) is $175 worth of not impractical fluff.

SIX PHOTOS

JOERN GERDTS