Led by Sam King and Hans Estin, both Freshmen, the ski team held a strong third place after Saturday's downhill and slalom events only to relinquish it Sunday when the cross-country and jumping scores were tallied at the Vermont Ski Union meet on Mt. Mansfield.

In their first competitive test of the winter, the skiers saw King finish second in the down hill followed by Estin and AlButler, NROTC, in seventh and eighth places, putting the Crimson a few points after Dartmouth and Vermont.

Estin Leads Three Events

Estin, in the number three spot, was the only one of the team to finish in the money in the slalom event, but the first day's totals put Harvard third, ahead of New Hampshire, which was supposed to give Dartmouth its only competition.

Frankly unprepared for the cross-country and jumping contests, the team yielded all but the bottom posts, although Estin eked out a 12-out-of-17 in the former and 16-out-of-20 in the latter to rate the team a final fourth.

Kris Berg of Norway, competing on his own in the Gibson Trophy race Sunday, and using techniques the Norwegian underground taught him in fighting the Germans during the war, left a field of 40 16 long seconds behind to win the two-race series on Cranmore Mountain.