With the University's major coaching problem out of the way, another less-publicized, but just as pressing coaching problem remains to be solved. Without a coach for the first time in many years, what appeared to be the best ski team in the last four years, compiled its worst season since 1953.

Under coach Graham Taylor in 1954 and 1955, the varsity ranked eighth out of 25 members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association. Last year under graduate student Don Kennedy, the team again finished eighth.

This season the team dropped to 11th and for the first time in over ten years lost to Yale consistently. As a result, the team will be ineligible to compete in the Senior Division of the EISA next year, but must compete in the Junior Division. This is tantamount to being sent to the minor leagues, for while teams such as Dartmouth and Middlebury comprise the Senior Division, the Junior Division boasts such powerhouses as MIT, BC, Amherst, and Brown.

As manager Jay Murley remarked yesterday, "We're not interested in beating teams like Dartmouth and Middlebury. They are out of our class. But we would like to beat such schools as Yale, Toronto, McGill, and Syracuse, where, as at Harvard, skiing is fun, not a business."

The sad part of the ski team's plight is that a great deal of the much- heralded sophomore has gone to waste for lack of adequate coaching. Take the case of Don Stephenson. Stephenson, a Holderness graduate, is rated among the best in the East. At Holderness, he consistently beat team-mate Dick Taylor. This year, Taylor finished second for Dartmouth in cross country in the Middlebury Carnival; Stephenson came in 12th.

The jump, and cross country especially require coaching, to point out flaws in style, or to help in mastering the difficulties of the various tricky courses.

The everyday event of the Sunday skier, the downhill, does not rate as a problem event for the varsity. Even the slalom is familiar to many fun skiers. But in the Nordic Combine (the jump and cross country), the coachless varsity has slipped from its previous good showing.

A part-time coach would suffice, one who would be willing to give up the requisite four to six solid weekends during the season, plus a week during the Christmas recess. He would not be paid very much, for the team can afford only to cover his expenses. What the team seeks is a coach who can handle a bit of the organization, inspire his team, and spot flaws in style. He need not necessarily be an excellent skier in his own right, but he should be a good teacher.

Again this year, the freshman ski team has shown the potential of becoming a good varsity. But, it will need the coaching to develop enough to compete with its peers who have had the benefit of coaching. Anyone interested in the job should see Murley.