The 'Video Bill' story

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 14, 27 August 1985, Page 3

The 'Video Bill' story

The 'Video Bill' Story Part 1 When my editor told me to "get the Video Bill story" I took it as an excuse to go skiing. People who video skiers are usually foundon a mountain, right? Anyway, I also had a brief to uncoyer the story behind 'Luigi', a mysterious ski patroller (who proved to be very elusive), so I was looking forward to spending all day skiing with the famous Turoa Ski Patrol, watching them carefully nurse the victims of spectacular mountain accidents towards safety and comfort, and catching it all on video to boot. Maybe I could even score one of those one-hundred-and-seventy-five dollar hour-long music-bed videos for myself, on the Bulletin's expense account. Now, I happen to know that Video Bill usually hangs around the High Noon TBar, and I wanted to be there early to get to the heart of the story. But, thanks to a burst radiator hose, I didn't get to the ticket office until twelve thirty, and when I finally made it to the High Noon nobody had seen Video Bill. Someone even suggested he'd gone back to Australia. . . This was a major setback to my plans. Luigi had last been seen over an hour before at something called 'The Control Room' and Video Bill simply wasn't around. Still, I could fall back on the vast amounts of background information I had collected. The pamphlet said that the Track Video team has thirteen years of television experience, used both VHS and Beta systems, and extols

"improvement by visual correction." They also have a handy editing service and various package deals to choose from. My sharp journalist's mind quickly realised that there's more than one person on a team. I caught up with Kim, Video Bill's wife, while she was floundering about trying to get her skis organised. She told me that there are actually four people involved, one of them based at Whakapapa. They all wear very loud blue jackets with 'Track Video' emblazoned all over them, and are at Ruapehu every season. During summer they all go back to Australia to do wha'tever Australians do in

Australia. She also suggested I interview my main man at his coldnial home that afternoon. It was a smoke-free-zone, which put me off immediately. Worse still, Video Bill had decided to have a jug or three at the pub, which blew away any chance of a sober interview. So, there's the Video Bill Story. Anyone interested should pick up one of the Track Video pamphlets from a ski shop. Better still, slide up to Bill at the Pioneer Bar with a couple of jugs and get more than one story, from the horse's mouth. Just as I did several hours later but that's another story! Mark Hatherley The 'Video Bill' Story Part 2 We caught up with Video Bill later . . . he'd been filming in town and was cornered, not in the Pioneer Bar but at the Turoa Information Centre, with his all-Australian Ohakune-based crew. We managed to photograph the Track Video team which operates on this side of the mountain — 'Video Bill' Adams, his wife Kim and Mike Eder — and learnt that they had another team member, also an Australian, Bob Bobski, operating on the Whakapapa side. Track Video have the sole rights to operate commercially on both the Turoa and Whakapapa skifields but

they also film at various functions in Ohakune, Raetihi, National Park and Whakapapa Village. On the skifields they film individual skiers who request the service so that they can watch the play-back and analyse and improve their skills. They also film skischools for the same reason and cover all major skiing and ski-race events for both AHI and RAL. They offer a comprehensive video tape service off the mountain to cover public and private functions, weddings and receptions, business promotions and last year captured Ohakune 's 'Giant Carrot' unveiling on tape. Video Bill, who is back here for the fourth time this season, says that he and his team enjoy returning to New Zealand every winter. . .they work in Sydney for television during the summer months. Bill and Kim's 2'/4-year-old daughter Kylie also enjoys coming over here for the snow. . .she doesn't see much of that in Sydney!