[upbeat marching music] lowell hello, everybody. This is Lowell Thomas greeting you from squaw valley, the Tahoe National forest. Here where the 8th winter Olympic Games are in progress. This, as you know, is the greatest spectacle in all Winter Sports. The worlds best skiers and skaters have come to this remote valley with the odd sounding name, squaw valley. They have come to win, if they can, to lose if they must, but above all to take part and do their best. Behind the excitement of the competition, there is another story, the story of planning, of building, of work, and of safety. Safety in the snow. This site for the Winter Olympics was selected by the Olympic Committee well in advance of the games. This area was selected because of the surrounding peaks, kt22 squaw and little papoose contains some of the best ski terrain in america, perhaps the world. Most of it is within the Tahoe National forest, a rather tight Little Valley named squaw , because Washoe Indian women once rested here while their men foraged in the mountains. It took several years to create an exciting olympic city here, a City Different from any other , anywhere. Actual construction was limited to the warmer months, because some of the heaviest snowfall in the United States is right here. Plans included a great arena to seat 8500 people, two spectator centers designed with nine sides to afford great expanses of windows. A village to house and care for some 800 athletes, racecourses, skating ovals, ski lifts, and a most unusual parking lot made of sawdust and snow, and it worked. Many organizations and individuals cooperated with the Olympic Committee in this enormous venture. These included, among others, the state of california, the national ski patrol, willie and his gallant men, and meeting management responsibilities, the United StatesForest Service. The men of the Forest Service saw that the natural forest setting was retained, not only for the sake of beauty, but for safety reasons as well. This slope is sentiment to strong crosswinds, a jumper can have perfect control of himself, but not of his environment. The trees are here to protect him, for a gust could endanger his life if it were not for the forest windbreak. Wind and a drifting snow are the enemies of a ski lift, therefore lifts in the area are protected by forest strips. Every tree has been pronounced fit for guard duty by a professional forester. Snow safety, most important words. And these men, wearing the Forest Service shield on their parkas, are snow rangers. They are guardians over safety in the snow, for the spectators and competitors. They have developed a snow safety plan. And an avalanche map for the information of all skiers. Hazard forecasting is a key step in the safety plan. Here an anemometer measures when wind force. These slopes near the top of squall mountain, so good for skiing, have quite a history of destructive avalanches. The rangers, alert for evidence of dangerous conditions, remove an unsafe area from use. Avalanches are not prevented, they are shot down, dynamited, or skied down in a safe time when they are still small. Unstable snow is cascaded away by skiing across an avalanche trigger point. This is called protective skiing, a tricky procedure to be used only by the most expert. Sierra storms create conditions that require a closer watch by the snow rangers. The work goes on in the stinging wind and the driving snow. These men are skilled in the business of snow safety. Behind them lies many years of managing and keeping safe the Winter Sports areas and National Forests across the country. I have seen these snow rangers and worked with them in other places, such as in the National Forest of utah. That is where the avalanche control work of the forest of service started. Every year, a cornice builds up here. Builds up of snow curling over the ledge like a christine cresting wave and it must be brought down to be saved. Explosives placed by hand have proven effective. The safety rope could be a lifesaver for the ranger. A baby avalanche. A bigger baby. A bigger baby still. Some of those chunks weigh around two tons. 75 millimeter recoilless rifles, which can be moved about. 105 millimeters rifles mounted on platforms, fired at points which cannot be reached by the men on skis. Bit by bit, the avalanche hazard is blasted away. Three of these big army guns are zeroed in on strategic locations near the top of two peaks. Sites are set, so that even in a blinding storm the men can be sure that they are hitting the target. Fire when ready, monte, while i fall back. When control action is completed, then slopes and racecourses are safe. Thousands of people arrive for the opening of the games. They come over new highways by car and by bus. The compactness of the area will enable the visitors to really see what is going on this time. The five rings, they represent the five major continents linked together in friendly competition. The plane brought all the way from the heart of a little norwegian cottage, once the home of sondre norheim, who is called the father of modern ski. Teams from 30 countries are here. Group. Our colorful pageantry is a traditional accompaniment to the games. An athlete from the host country has the honor pronouncing the gold. In the name of all competitors, i swear that we will take part in these olympic abiding byecting and the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of of our country. Lowell doves of peace fly overhead, or are they pigeons . Begin games downhill course designed to give plenty of interest to this race. Here returned the airplane corner, stover unexpectedly, and gave them too much of a challenge, one they did not expect. Many of them lost the race right here. Speed in the mens downhill often reaches 60 miles an hour. The slalom doeemands more technical skill than any other event. Tionsf the racers reac are rigidly tested. The race is run into heat through a complicated series of combinations. Anyone willing to climb a mountain and stand in the snow can see the race. Some spectators prefer to the cold seat. This is for the birds. The winner must achieve the lowest combined time for the two runs. Crosscountry racers are incredibly tough. They run from 1830 miles over the snow on their like to skis their thin, light skis. Down if rarely slow they hope to win. A lonely race, even the most seasoned athletes have to have plenty of courage and determination for getting across the finish line. The combination of the skills of both hunter and crosscountry skier is required in the biathlon. The exertion of skiing long distances puts the contestant before a small target with pounding hearts and shaky hands. Shot adds a penalty of two minutes to his running time. Biathlon evert held in a winter , and it may be the last. At any rate, it has been voted out of the next games. This is hardly a spectator sport. Only race officials are allowed on the course. Not even managers and trainers can follow. Spectators gather at the speed skating rink. Countries with colder climates have always produced the champions in this sport, but tracks like these, artificially maintained, may change the situation. The skaters race in pairs against time alone. Signal atnate on designated times. The inside track is used at the same time by other skaters for warming up. Ice hockey inside the arena. This has been called the fastest game on earth, extremely popular because of its speed and action. And the United States team is causing plenty of unexpected excitement here. They were pregame underdogs and now they have upset all predictions by winning this game with the russians. And in them the first gold medal ever wanted by u. S. Team in hockey won by a u. S. Team in hockey. And the winning performance of the undisputed queen of the figure skating, the lovely carol. Another contender showing his mastery of acrobatic turns and leaps. The designer of the big jump in said this is the area that we always seek, but seldom find. The jumpers crouch reduces air resistance, he soars forward looking for a position al capone the must distance. He keeps his ford lean fo rward lane as long as possible. Lean as long as possible. Jumpers use their hands like writers rudders. The landing is absorbed with a bent knees, one leg ahead for stability. The longest jump doesnt necessarily win. Form as well as distance is scored. Victory ceremonies crown each day with pomp and pageantry. The winner stands highest, second place on his right, third on the left. So the days pass far too quickly and the grand spectacle is over, but esquire valley the facilities and opportunity for wonderful Winter Sports remain, as they do other National Forests throughout this big country of ours. If you want to count them, as of this moment there are 177 Winter Sports areas in some 85 National Forests, a great Training Ground for our american youngsters. I have been to most of them and they are, well, they are indeed magnificent. It is good to realize that these National Forests are oursm, ours to use and enjoy. What greater delight than the wonders of americas winter playgrounds. So long. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] raising a fist, does that relate to what we see with the Football Players mailing today . Kneeling today . We have a long history of racism. Announcer you could be featured during our next program, join the conversation on facebook. Ory. On twitter at cspanhist announcer this week, from a consumer electronic show in las vegas, Technology Leaders discuss their latest developments in Artificial Intelligence. You can have Artificial Intelligence in something as supplies your music playlist. It uses technology that does Machine Learning, helping you to figure out what movies you love to watch and what music you like to listen to. It can be in your internet email system, filtering out spam, that Automated System is not a person, but a computer algorithm using Technology Like learning within a. I. On the other end, you can have Artificial Intelligence powering self driving cars. It uses vision and Machine Learning to help a car navigate the busy streets. Announcer watch on monday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. Weekend, anhis exploration of the relationships forged between ronald reagan, george h. W. Bush and the russian leader, miguel coppage off gorbachev during the final years of the war. Looking at the comic look at history between u. S. And russian leaders over the past century. Here is a preview. Usually in talking about gorbachev i began with a famous quote from the british historian thomas carlyle, that history is quote but the biography of great men. And we know immediately there is something wrong with that, the word men, but not only that, there are social movements and International Conditions and economic circumstances, but i think that garbage off is gorbachev is a classic example of an individual leader who makes a decisive impact on history and his biography helps to explain that decisive impact. Because he partly had the power to have such an impact, as the leader of the soviet union, as a still totalitarian, or post totalitarian regime in 1985. It also has something to do with his uniqueness, in the sense he did not do what other soviet leaders in his or group would have done peer group would have done. If he had, we could say he was reflecting the values they shared or we could say that he was reacting to the demands of the situation which they are faced, but no he acted in his own way. Announcer watch the entire program, sunday at 8 00 p. M. And midnight eastern, on American History tv, all weekend every weekend, on cspan3. Cspan, where history unfolds daily. As a79, cspan was created Public Service by americas Cable Television companies. And is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Next on American History tv, vanda krefft discusses her biography, the man who made the movies the meteoric rise and tragic fall of william fox,. In this conversation, she argues that his contributions to the early Motion Picture industry were largely forgotten after the 1929 stock market crash resulted in a takeover of his company, which later became 20th century fox. Center forvy biography hosted this hourlong event. Kai tonight we have vanda moderated by our very own associate director of the leon levy center. He is the author of a collection wavems, a memoir on a about his surfing days, a inalist of the penn award 2003, it also a novelist, the author of wichita. And vanda krefft was herself