"jgs" wrote:

Gene, a question; more than carrying the additional weight up the
hill, isn't the issue oxygenating the additional muscle mass that
larger athlete has to deal with in the hills? I remember seeing a
chart somewhere that really broke it down. It seems that it is a
mathematical certainty that the smaller athlete will prevail in the
hills. Have you heard this thesis?

Yes, weight has more drawbacks. I forget where smaller and larger come
into play in skiing, other than hearing that taller tends to do better
in the sprints. However, off the top of my head it does seem that tall
Thomas Alsgaard and Katerina Neumanova have handled the hills pretty
well, as have Frode Estil and Anders Veerpalu. Bjorn Daehlie is up
there around 6'1" too.

Gene