Jumping Journal: February 10, 2006

Day 34.  AVALANCHE!!!!!  That's doesn't sound right but it will once I explain the freaky thing that happened late this afternoon while jumping the 50.  It was a day to see two things happen that I could never envision being able to happen while ski jumping.  Now I have seen it all.  Forget about hearing it all, anyone can talk, it takes a real crazy person to show action.  LOL!!!

 

I decided against jumping last night as I just had too many things that I needed to get done before I went to bed last night.  I did stick around to help get the track cut on the inrun while it was snowing to beat heck.  I don't think I have ever seen it snow that hard while around Storrs Hill.  I couldn't see the bridge from the top of the inrun, it was snowing that hard.

 

I got to the hill this afternoon and I heard I didn't make a mistake by skipping out last night.  I guess from what they said the track wasn't the greatest.  That's an understatement.  I got dressed and decided to join Cannonball and Dan in taking an outrun.  Everything seemed fine.  I flagged both Cannonball and Dan before heading up the tressel myself.  Again, everything seemed fine.  Now to digress.

 

Part of the hill preparation for Junior Olympics, now just three weeks away, was to replace the snowfence on the inrun.  Originally it was orange plastic snowfence that had, roughly, 3 inch by 3 inch openings.  The new, red plastic snowfence, has instead, roughly, 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch openings.  This makes for real good snowfence.  The snow we made Tuesday evening stuck to it quite nicely.  It didn't pass through like it normally would with the old fence.

 

This stuck snow was about to create for a very interesting, ATTEMPTED, jump.  Up in the house the snow was sticking to the fence.  Where the track sends you down the inrun the snow was sticking out in a bulge away from the supporting wooden fence. It made it a little tricky for getting the skis on and lining up with the track.

 

I got the wave to go ahead and jump.  I push off the fence but it was a whimpish push.  I back up again and pushed off once again.  I started moving and all of sudden the snow/ice on the fence let loose.  It hit my skis as it fell to the ground.  This causes me to completely miss the line up with the track.  I find myself drifting toward the left very quickly.  I'm not even beneath the bar starts and both of my skis are out of the tracks.  I try to pull myself back into the track but end up going down on my side.  Fortuanately, I ended up sliding down feet first at first.  This ended up causing me to loose my speed and I ended up stopping right down at the transition on the inrun.  Strange, I've never heard of anyone falling on the inrun and not actually going off the end of the inrun.  I did tonight.

 

This brought up the discussion about deflection boards on the inrun.  That part of the JO hill prep work hasn't happened yet, THANKFULLY.  After what happened tonight and the discussion that has occured since the Lunatic Fringe came back from US Masters, I am totally against deflection boards on the inrun.  Instead make the track on the inrun deeper so you can't come out of the inrun in the first place.  Why not prevent the accident from occuring in the first place.  If their would have been a track clear up in the house and there also would have been a very deep inrun track, 3-4 inches deep, I would not have had any problem and would have managed the jump flawlessly.

 

If there would have been deflection boards on the inrun the hang up that would have occured with the skis could have easily made for a very ugly situation.  The FIS/USSA needs to reconsider there stupid idea of deflection boards on the inrun.  I'm extremely glad that they weren't their today.

 

I walk back up for another jump, knowing that that couldn't happen again.  We move the snow aside that had fallen off the snowfence.  I take my "second" jump.  Everything goes fine until I get to the takeoff.  Right before the takeoff I find myself, somehow, completely out of the track.  The right ski has somehow come up out of the track.  I make the jump and everything else goes fine.  Like I said the talk I heard at the beginning of the afternoon was about how the conditions last night were questionable, to say the least.

 

I go up for a "third" jump.  I notice right before I get to the takeoff that the track is crooked in the last 10-15 feet before the takeoff.  The jump goes fine and I decide to stop while I'm still ahead.  Dan takes one more jump and he said that he came partially out of the track at the takeoff on his last jump.  Cannonball, Dan and I all agree that this was the last time that that track would be skied.

 

Fortunately, the weather forecast is for a snowstorm to strike Saturday night into Sunday.  I guess a new track will be pretty much guaranteed come Monday evening.

 

Right now I just hope that the storm doesn't drop too much snow.  I'm heading out shortly to Newport to spend the night making snow in preparation for the Newport Winter Carnival jump meet on Sunday.  All winter everybody has been begging and pleading for snow and they haven't seen any at all.  Now come this weekend when no one wants it it appears that we are going to get nailed with it.  I guess Mother Nature is trying to be as uncooperative as possible this year.  Time shall tell.

 

Crash