Myth #1(Mother Nature killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked

Myth #2(NCAA killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Myth #3(The US doesn't have the talent) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Mind Of A Ski Jumper Part 1, 2, 3, 4

The Ultimate Coach - Ski Jump Training Device

Jumping Season Digest: (see bottom of this page)

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Jumping Journal: December 22, 2005

Predicting that tonight would be an interesting evening was a cakewalk.  The surprise came when it wasn't so interesting.  I spent last night switching over the bindings from a pair of 250 Fischer's that weighed a ton to a pair of lightweight 264 Elan's.  I figured that the 14 cm jump in ski length would create for some rather interesting first few jumps this evening.
 
To digress a couple of years, after I got off jumping skis I switched to a pair of 235 VRS's.  Then I moved right from them up to the 250 Fischer's.  From what I remember the jump up created for some...well, how could you say fun.  The big 15 cm increase made for some definite adjusting.
 
I didn't notice the problem this time like I figured I would.  Instead everything went nice and smooth.  Admittedly, I still have about another 10 cm in length that I could add on before I would actually be at the appropiate length given my 6'3" height.
 
I took the first jump and it went very smooth.  Way better than I thought.  The problem came at the transition.  As I have been doing every time I've been out on the 50 so far this winter, I was leaning too far forward going through the transition.  This time I wasn't keeping my head up like I had been all the other times.  I ended up crashing.  I knew what I did wrong before I went down but couldn't stop the crash from occuring.
 
As I took the skis off I noticed I had broken one of the cords.  I said the heck with it I'm out here for the fun of jumping and not anything else.  I've jumped quite a few times with one broken cord and one cord still functioning.  I headed on up and took more jumps.  The next several jumps all went pretty decent.  I wasn't pushing it due to the bigger skis as well as the one broken cord.  The only problem I was having was trying to turn around at the end of the outrun.  I've had problems turning around out there before with the 250s and now with the 264s it's even harder.  I definitely need to spend some serious time on the 25 this winter working on the hockey stop with the 264s.  I could do it occasionally on the 50 but not regularly by any means while jumping on the 250s, the 235s were completely a cakewalk.  The second jump of the evening seemed like it was going to be a breeze to turn around with the lighter weight skis.  The third jump came and my mind got reprogrammed.
 
After around six jumps Cannonball says that I looked like I was getting sluggish.  I told him about the broken cord and he says that I shouldn't be jumping.  I tell him I've jumped this way before and I've did all but the first jump like it so far tonight..  He shuts up and doesn't say anything more, he knows that he's lost the argument with me.
 
I go up and take the 7th jump and put a little more effort into it and it ends up being the best of the night so far.  The 8th jump is even better.  I go up for the 9th and final jump of the night.  Well, Cannonball put it best, I took one jump too many.  Definitely not a nice smooth jump like the previous two were, but at least I didn't crash.
 
By the third jump of the evening I was finally starting to remain upright and lean into the transition, thankfully.  Hopefully I can keep it that way from now on.  I'm kinda sick and tired of that feeling of being sucked into the snow and fighting to keep yourself from going down.
 
Crash
Winter 2010
DateLeb 25Plymouth 25Leb 50And 38
Dec 121
Jan 056
Jan 063
Feb 024
Feb 032
Feb 046
Feb 073
Mar 063
Totals133102