Word: steeping
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Cross-countrymen avoid plunging down the steep, icy slopes beloved by downhillers; their narrow skis do not provide as much control as alpine models. Milder inclines are no problem, however, and climbing is easier because of special waxes...
...there is an environmental catch. Because the slopes are steep, they hold little water, and homes seemingly far apart must compete for it in scarce underground pools. Neighbors also foul each other's water, since septic tanks do not work well in less than four feet of topsoil, and the slopes have much less. As a result, virtually raw sewage seeps downhill to contaminate wells, ponds or streams...
...problems end there. Developments on steep slopes often are served by a single access road that by itself alters the natural flow of moisture. Moreover, with only one road for access, any subdivision can become a dangerous firetrap. "Many developers seem not to realize that fire runs uphill faster than on the flat," says Oscar Schmunk, deputy forester. Even now, the slopes are occasionally marked by the lonely stone chimneys of burned-out homes. The fire fighters call them "tombstones." They predict that within five years, if the present rush to live on the slopes continues, Colorado will have disastrous...
Within minutes, a 740 m.p.h. Czechoslovak air force MIG 17 was on his tail. When the pilot fired a poorly aimed cannon burst, Bezak turned and put the Zlin into a steep 4,000-ft. dive. As G forces slapped his sons against the cockpit canopy, his wife Marie, 27, shouted, "It's all up! We'd better go back." Instead, Bezak watched as the MIG frantically circled to make another firing run, and banked the plane as if he were obeying the air force pilot's unmistakable signal to return. Suddenly, Bezak turned again and slipped...
Paris has its Eiffel Tower. New York has the Empire State Building, Chicago the soaring John Hancock Center. And San Francisco? It now seems that the dominant structure in that sculptural city of steep slopes and sharp profiles will be a gigantic television antenna. Rising from the top of residential Mt. Sutro in the geographic center of town, it will bestride the narrow city like a clumsy metal Colossus, standing a full 1,811 feet above sea level. To signal its presence to low-flying planes, it will wear gaudy red and white stripes studded with seven rows...