Jumping Journal: December 17, 2006

"Considering there are only 6 to 7 jumps open around the world right now, this place looks pretty damn good!"  Sam Burke, former eastern competitor and present day rec jumper

 

I think that statement made by Sam today pretty much sums up what the conditions are like around here right now.  With only three/four ski jumps open in the United States at the present time, as far as I know.  If you complain about having snow, no matter what the condition the snow is in, you need to have your head examined. I can't complain for a minute.

 

After finally seeing temperatures drop below freezing overnight, for first time in about a week, they didn't stay down for very long.  By the time I was heading in to jump the temps were all over the place, at the highest point along the highway I take to get to Lebanon the temperature was 43 degrees, yet just a few miles away and a couple of hundred feet lower in elevation the temperature was 38 degrees at the hill.  All I could l do was pray that the temperature inversion would remain intact and keep the warmer temps locked up higher in elevation.  Alas, it didn't last long.  It was 45 degrees when I left this hill this afternoon.

 

Today was another double jump session.  Once again, it was another day of jumping in a blur.  Most of the day seemed like I was doing pretty decent with the position, just not having much power, and also not doing the best at jumping on time.  The morning session started out better than it finished while the afternoon session finished better than it started.

 

The one thing that I did end up working on at the end of the day was not being so stiff.  Normally, I have always jumped and kept my arms at my sides, tucked in.  It has always felt natural to jump that way.  I did make the change on the last three or four jumps after being told about it.  It felt unnatural but I know with time that it will help my jumping.  I think toward the end of the day that I managed to throw in a nice V on one of the jumps as well.  The strange thing is that back in my first year of jumping I tried the V for two or three days and then haven't bothered to try it again since then.  Occasionally, I find myself putting in a V on the jump totally unexpected/unplanned.

 

All in all I took nine jumps in the morning and another eight jumps this afternoon.  Yesterday and today have provided for the most jumps, 17, in one day since 2003 or 2004.  Last year I had 16 jumps in one day, not all of them on the 50, one in January and one in early March.

 

To make matters worse, or my insanity worse, after finishing up jumping, I headed back up the hill to help Cannonball do some work on the inrun.  The warm weather has continued to eat away at the sides of the jump and he spent the afternoon session shoveling snow back onto the inrun.  He was also trying to build the level back up to the top of the gradeboards so the inrun will be smooth all the way down and there won't any bumps as you go down the inrun.  Admittedly, I haven't noticed any so far.

 

Crash