THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

And with almost the same camera, too. The icy test is in applying that photo-finish principle to people on skis, stopping the action while maintaining the sensation of speed that is faster than the eye can focus. After synchronizing camera shutter to skier, the photographer ran off yards of film at Sun Valley and Vail until he finally managed to freeze these folks in mid-flight a la the Kentucky Derby. The skiers at right and on the following pages are clicking off a timed 40 to 50 mph; the sheer joys of such all-out schussing are described on page 39.

Airborne from an off-camera bump, this daring young man comes flickering past the shutter for a low-flying portrait.

THREE PHOTOS

NEIL LEIFER