New Kind Of French Dressing

The days have been gray and the snow either sparse or as heavy as porridge over much of the European ski racing circuit. There is no single spirit, blithe and daring, to dominate the days and enliven the nights as Jean-Claude Killy once did. The American team, which started the season with at least nominally high hopes for the men and superlative expectations for the women, has fallen near a state of despair, a condition caused by a series of disappointing races and agitated further by the fact that the team does not even have national uniforms and is, literally, out at the elbows. Smashups have been frequent and brutal all season, and last week the rather grim mood of it all was further emphasized when a promising French teen-ager, Michel Bozon, was killed in a fall in a downhill race at Meg�ve.

Still, as 1970 ski racing moves toward its competitive pinnacle—the FIS World Alpine championships next week at Val Gardena in northern Italy—there are signs that the season is about to produce one of sport's classic battles: the challenge of the crafty old kings of the mountain by brash young hotshots.

The flashiest skis on the hills this winter have belonged to a pair of kids—to the cool, profoundly confident Frenchman, Patrick Russel , 23, and the soft-spoken, wide-eyed 18-year-old Italian, Gustavo Thoeni , who travels the circuit with his father. They are the best of a coming breed called the New Naturals, those kids who hurl themselves down the mountains with an exuberant abandon that leaves the veterans gasping—and perhaps a bit sad. As Billy Kidd , 26, now in his eighth season for the U.S. , puts it: "It may help that the young racers now start with more advanced equipment than we did. But the older racers are trained to prepare for a turn before they get to it. The young ones race right to the gates full blast and then slam down on their skis because they know they can do it. I just feel so heavy and slow by comparison."

So the kids have come to conquer. Russel (pronounced Roo-sell) stood No. 1 in overall World Cup standings with 140 points after finishing first in last week's giant slalom in Meg�ve. And Thoeni (pronounced Tony) was second with 107 points. Last year's cup winner and world champ, Austria 's resilient and wily Karl Schranz , a hoary 31, stood third with 106. But there were even more of the New Naturals not far behind in points and all are genuine threats to win one event or another in Val Gardena. These included other French whiz kids such as Jean-Noel Augert, 20, Henri Duvillard , 22, and Alain Penz, 22; plus Australia 's surprising Malcolm Milne, 21, whose straightaway style may be best suited of all for the Italian downhill, which is not noted for its scenic curves.

Perhaps Russel is the new best in the ski world. He is trim at 5'7" and 147 pounds, superbly conditioned and magnificently relaxed. Russel runs a slalom course with a floating, fluid style that always seems to conceal his rocketing speed. During the Lauberhorn slalom in Wengen, his start seemed almost lackadaisical, while the other racers were barging about violently, hitting poles, forcing themselves into momentum. Not Russel . "He looked as if he were powder skiing," said Canadian veteran Rod Hebron . "He didn't hit a single pole and he won."

It looks easy: to gain such speed Russel sits farther back on his skis than anyone else competing now (although both Thoeni and the Swiss oldtimer, Dumeng Giovanoli, 29, are trying to copy the style). Russel 's nonsecret weapon is a strange new ski boot, which rises to mid-calf in back but is cut normally in front. This stiff support allows him to lean back during a run. And one can bet that, given Russel 's success, the new boot will soon be marketed hotly around the world as the Patrick Russel signature model. The Frenchman also races on a set of skis with exceptionally stiff tails (Rossignols, of course, since Russel 's dad is that firm's export manager), and the combination of boots and skis brings him out of each turn hunched far back—and fast. The style is considered much smoother and less frenetic than the more exciting but occasionally slapdash methods of Killy .

It isn't all equipment. An extreme worker, Russel trained under the famed French instructor Georges Joubert, and he spent his last seven summers bombing down a glacier near Alpe d'Huez . "Patrick has skied through more gates than any other racer alive," one associate says. His teammates call him "Castor" (it means Beaver in French)—but not because he trains so hard; because he has slightly buck teeth. No matter. It all paid off when he made the French traveling team and began spotting a few victories along the slalom trails. His steady gain spurred a generally overlooked comment from Killy : "It is time for me to retire because I don't think I can beat guys like Russel in the future." And if Killy was the only one who noticed Russel then, the rest of the racers spotted him when he won the slalom at Kitzb�hel last year.

Long-haired, darkly shaggy, Russel is a subdued swinger despite the fact he is inundated by finish-line dollies after each race and draws come-hither looks in all the bistros on the tour. He does not even—horrors!—own a sports car like his teammates; he drives a Volkswagen .

Russel will be favored by most to win the slalom at Val Gardena's big showdown, and many pick him for the giant slalom, too. But if he does not finish first, chances are excellent that the winner will be that apple-cheeked Italian, Gustavo Thoeni . Until this year Thoeni was all but anonymous outside Italy , where he had been quietly knocking off junior championships since he was 14. He did win the giant slalom at the Alpine cup at Val d'Is�re last year, but that came during the doldrums of March, when everybody was exhausted from the long season, and it drew little notice. He then went to Australia and won another GS over such top-rankers as the U.S. 's Spider Sabich and France 's Henri Duvillard .

Just a slight 5'8", 145-pound kid, Thoeni was still unnoticed when the 1970 season started. But he hit an instant spotlight when he won the first giant slalom of the year in Val d'Is�re in December. "I could not believe it then," he says. But he believes it now. He also won the Hindelang slalom since then and has placed consistently well in the slaloms, building up his points and an almost-shy sort of confidence. "I have now come to believe that I can win the slalom or the giant slalom at Italy ," he says. "Thoeni is very aggressive," says Don Henderson , the U.S. men's coach. "He is just a fantastic skier who never falls. He skis the way Billy Kidd did 10 years ago."