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)

Friday, December 22, 2006

Jumping Journal: December 22, 2006

A rather unusual weekday afternoon jumping session.  More unusual was jumping on snow while it was freezing rain/sleeting.
 
I got to the hill just before 3PM and after suiting up I headed up to the takeoff with freezing rain/sleet falling from the sky.  The storm front that has stranded airline traffic in Denver just about all week has started to move into New England.  I got up to the takeoff to find that Cannonball already had the plastic laying out on the ground ready to put on the inrun to try to save the inrun from the rain that is forecast.  Last winter we had 4 rain storms in January, it seems like it is starting out the same way again this winter, only maybe earlier.
 
I took the first jump and it was like I had never stopped jumping yesterday evening.  All of last winter it seemed like I had to start over each and every day.  This year it seems like I keep picking up from where I left off the last time that I jumped.  The first jump was a nice solid jump.  I held the position all the way into the landing.
 
Walking back up to the takeoff Cannonball suggested that I try putting in the V.  I decided to go for it.  The second jump went smooth except for the fact that I put on the airbrakes and pulled out of the jump toward the bottom.  The V did come out, quite effortlessly.
 
The third jump was pretty much the same except the V wasn't quite as nice and I ended up with the more of a V with the left leg than the right leg.  I landed more on my right leg than the left leg. I managed to finish the rest of the jump without any problems.
 
The fourth jump was just about the same as the third jump with the exception that the V was more a split between the skis.  The left ski came up a lot more than the right ski.
 
The fifth jump I found myself not even getting any kind of a V but the left ski came up again more than the right ski once again.  Last year I seemed to always have this problem but I hadn't noticed the problem at all so far this year.  Last year I pretty much always had my cords down, probably, tighter than what they should have been.  I remember back last weekend noticing that the cords weren't even and I had planned on tightening them up but so far I hadn't.
 
For the sixth jump Cannonball suggested forgetting the V and just going back and getting the rest of the technique together once again and then moving forward with putting in a V.  I decided the heck with it and went with the V once again.  It did seem better but again I ended up not holding the jump all the way until I landed.
 
Each of the jump thus far seemed like they was down around 33-35 meters.  Still way better than most of the jumps I've had over the several years.
 
On the seventh and eighth jumps I continued having the same problem with the left ski wanting to come much higher.  After I made my way back up to the top for the ninth jump I checked and realized just how much of a difference their was between the length of the two cords and it showed why I was having all the trouble.  It didn't really answer the looming question of why I hadn't had the trouble earlier in the season though.  I think it has answered the question as to why it was seeming like I was jumping too direct.  I haven't actually been jumping too direct, instead I've just had too much cord and it has allowed the tips to come up way more than what they use to.  It still doesn't explain why I had the problem last year though, as I always had the cords tightened down last year.
 
The ninth jump went pretty well and on the tenth and final jump of the afternoon I ended up just reverting back to the way I had been doing things prior to putting in a V earlier in the day.  I went down to the 37-38 meter area.  It was probably the longest or second longest jump of the season so far.
 
After changing clothes I went up and helped Cannonball cover the inrun with plastic.  I hope rather than being thankful for putting the plastic down that we end up wasting our time by putting it down as we don't get any of the rain that the forecast is calling for.
 
Before leaving I made mention to Jon the fact that the 25 hadn't been jumped yet this month and that it was sure looking like we was going to have to drag out the garden hoses to water down the plastic so we could jump.  The forecast right now isn't calling for any really cold weather through midweek next week.  Currently there is 111 consectutive months of jumping on the 25 and 112 consectutive months of jumping at Storrs Hill since we have had six days of jumping on the 50 this month.  Cannonball reminded me that the forecast was for rain tomorrow and that Dan had talked about heading to the hill while he could get away from the family tomorrow.  I'm going to have to see if we might be able to use the rain for natural moisture on the plastic on the 25 and get the 25 jumped for the month of Decemeber.  It will be strange jumping on plastic on the 25 in December, I don't think it has ever happened before.  We have always jumped on snow in December.  I guess maybe the summer jumping season still isn't over.  If their isn't some snow on the jump I deem it to be summer jumping, right now there isn't any snow to found on the 25 whatsoever.
 
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