Jumping Journal: December 18, 2005

Winter has finally arrived, at least officially.  The first day of jumping on the 50.  Strange, it was on the 18th of December last year that we jumped the first for the first time as well.  Talk about coincidences.

 

After writing up The Mind Of A Ski Jumper: Part 3 on Tuesday evening and then finding out that my blog had been totally dropped by Google, the parent firm that runs blogspot.com, I decided that maybe I should try a little experiment on the first official day of winter jumping.  I will tell more about my reasoning why a future segment of The Mind Of A Ski Jumper.  To put it simply, I pretty much have always jumped in blue jeans during the summer months and ski bibs during the winter months.  Toward the end of last winter I was crazy enough to put on one of the jump suits that another jumper had left behind during one of the meets in Lebanon earlier in the season.  It was definitely an educational moment.  I decided I wanted to repeat the experience and see what was going on now.

 

All summer long I had a few crashes here and there but not very many.  It was definitely the best summer of jumping I've had since 2001.  For the first 30 jumps of the winter, on the 25, I hadn't crashed any.  I wanted to see what would happen if I put the jump suit on and jumped the 50.  I pretty much knew what to expect.  I knew I would end the crashless streak, probably on the very first jump.

 

Sure enough, I was right on the money.  The mind carried me straight the ground on the first jump off the 50.  Last winter I had no trouble coming in and jumping the 50 after not having jumped at all since the first Sunday of November.  All of a sudden this year I put on the jump suit and bang, I go straight to the ground.  I guess the mind games are still swinging BIG time.

 

The second jump was even better, this time instead of starting to fall backwards right on the landing and dragging my hands until I stopped, I waited until I got into the transition and fell backwards.  I smacked big time.  I definitely had the start of a nice sore tailbone.

 

The third jump, well, I think you got the picture, ditto.  If you saw the second jump you didn't have to watch the third one, it was identical.  One of the big signs that the mind is trying to carry me away.  In the next part of The Mind Of A Ski Jumper I'll go more into detail about why I say that it is a big sign.

 

Cannonball didn't want to take a fourth jump, but I wasn't about to quit.  I realized that the jump has definitely changed with the new modifications that have been put in place.  It definitely seems much more like the 48 at Lake Placid now then what the 50 use to be like.  The old 50 was much more forgiving if you ended up falling behind on the landing.  You use to be able to pull right through and stay upright.  Now, like on the 48, you can't do that.  If your not on top all the way, your on your butt all the way through the transition and the outrun until you come to a stop.  I've defnitely have had trouble with that over the years at Lake Placid.  I'm coming to understand that that is what probably caused the crashed I mention in Part 3, I just fell behind at the takeoff and it multiplied its effects the rest of the way down the hill.

 

On the fourth jump I ended up with a solid jump and landing.  I knew that at some point the mind would give in a little.  I also knew not to expect it to last.  It's just the way my mind operates.  Pretty much I know the expect to have one crash every seven jumps while jumping on the 50 with a jump suit on.  If I go back to wearing the bibs I may only crash once a week.  Purely a mind game.

 

I don't notice much of a difference on the inrun.  It pretty much seems just like it always has.  Cannonball hasn't cut back the takeoff yet though.  It still goes right out to the very end, versus having the last meter being cutoff.  I know that will make a definite difference in how far I can jump once he does.  The landing hill, as mentioned above, has changed, I'm still not sure what it is that has changed though.  It is definitely less forgiving than what it used to be.  Why the effect is like that still has me totally confused.

 

It should be interesting to see what tomorrow will bring.  I'm definitely sticking with the jump suit even though my mind rebels against the idea.  I know not to give in or I'll regret it in the long run.

 

Crash