Jumping Journal: January 06, 2006

Winter has finally arrived...in more ways than one.

 

Finally, the adult jumping sessions have began at Storrs Hill.  Yep, the Dr. John has made his presence known.  He has now been jumping for 10 years and lives in Rhode Island.  He comes up and jumps in Lebanon most every weekend.  Due to the late start of jumping on the 25 this winter, he made his first appearance up this way today.

 

I also decided to try something new and...back to the old way of doing things.  To put it modestly, it worked quite nicely, no surprise here to say the least.

 

I don't think I have ever seen the 25 so slow before.  When we were doing it on all natural snow back in November and December it was faster than it was today with a skiffle of new snow on the inrun and fresh snow falling all the time I was jumping.  The first jump was the hardest as I wasn't expecting to fall asleep on the inrun due to the slow speed.

 

I had seven, nice solid jumps.  I was even able to finally get several hockey stops in with the new 264s.  So far I've had no luck being able to do a hockey stop using the new skis.  The technique wasn't there on any of the jumps but with the slow speed and everything else, it didn't surprise me to not have the technique quite in place.

 

Crash

Myth #2 Debunked, Part 6

Back in 1992 another interview took place atop the large hill in Courchevel, France.  This interview was between CBS weatherman Mark McEwen and ski jumping analyst Jeff Hastings.

 

Mark: Do you jump after you've retired?

Jeff: Oh, the way I like to put it for me, (stuttering on his words), let me start that again, no you don't jump after you retire.  It's not the sort of thing that you come out here and play a recreational 18 holes or something.  And a lot of people ask me, but Jeff you must get the itch, you must get the itch.  Yeah, and my response to that is yeah I get the urge but I do not get the urge to scratch it.

 

Now 1992 was the first time I really can ever remember seeing ski jumping on television.  I know I had to have seen it previously since I had already been interested in getting into ski jumping prior to the 1992 Olympics.  Little did I realize at the time I heard this interview that I was learning everything I could ever want to know about ski jumping.

 

"When you quit competing, you quit jumping"

 

Show me another sport with this attitude and I'll show you another sport with the same growth problems that ski jumping has.  I can think of two sports, besides ski jumping, that has this attitude, skeleton and luge.  They also have a very disproportionate number of juniors to adults partcipating in the sport.  Both sports also have trouble with funding and facilities as well.  Um, I wonder.  Is this telling us something?

 

Tomorrow more proof that this attitude exists in ski jumping.  I'll stop and listen to the jumpers that I jump around.  Kids will tell you the truth if you will just shut your mouth and listen to them.  Stay tuned

 

Until next time

Keep the ski tips up,

Crash