Day 42, err, month 75, err two long weeks without jumping(WHAT!), err jumping the 25 for the first time all winter WHAT!!!
8 more days to go until the magic day 50 of the season. Hopefully I will be able to pull them off. It will make my fifth year in a row that I have jumped at least 50 days on snow during the winter. Not bad.
As far as I know their is only place in the world where you can jump 12 months a year at the present time, Storrs Hill Ski Area, Lebanon, NH. This month marks the 115th consecutive month that the 25 meter hill has been jumped in Lebanon. This month also marks my own milestone of 75 months in a row of jumping. It doesn't really seem feasible that I could have ever jumped for the first time yet alone now having 75 straight months without a month off from the sport. Fellow master jumper, Dan Brown, I believe is right around two straight years without a month off and he is the closest of anyone to me at the present time.
Saturday marked what would be the normal end to the jumping season, a week early. Normally this weekened would have been the weekend to head up to Lake Placid for the season finale meet up there. Next week would be the Mud Meet and Lead Dog combo weekend ski meister events. Due to scheduling conflicts the two weekends got reversed and now it'll end up being a full weekend in Lake Placid with the normal season ending meet on Saturday and Lead Dog on Sunday. It should make for an interesting turnout for Lead Dog, maybe one of the biggest that has ever been seen at Lead Dog.
I got up to Lebanon and helped out for a while with registration on the computer. I had made up an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the winner of Mud Meet without having to do all the calculating work by hand. Turns out, to make a long story short, things were a little touchy and my plans didn't quite pan out the way I wanted them to. Readjustments on the fly always help to make things work correctly though.
The hill opened up for both the cross country and the alpine events. I decided to use the alpine equipment for both events and quickly realized this was not going to be my year, BY A LONG SHOT, then again what year has been my year thus far.
I head over toward the poma lift and quickly realize that the conditions are rather unusual, slow for some reason. The temperatures were still below freezing, admittedly not by much but the conditions were much slower than I expected. Granted I haven't used the alpine equipment since late last March and haven't waxed the skis in years or tuned them up or anything else. I pretty much only jump during the winter months and don't put on the alpine skis until Mud Meet and Lead Dog. I take a couple of quick runs down the ski slopes to once again refamiliarize myself with alpine skiing. It seems to be doing pretty decent but I know my time in the giant slalom course is going to be toward the bottom of the list, if not on the bottom of the list.
I already realized while heading up to the poma lift from the lodge that the cross country part of the event was going to be a riot. The digger I took on the 90 in Lake Placid two weeks ago caused something in my arm to hurt. The pain has been going away more and more each day but it wasn't totally gone. I could tell from the pull with the poles motion to get to the poma lift that the cross country course wasn't going to be much fun at all. I wasn't going to be let down. I decided to take a practice run and saw that not only was I out of shape, but more importantly the right arm was going to be fun to say the least.
After taking a break and checking to make sure everything on the computer was going fine with registration I headed back out and took one more alpine run before heading for the GS course. I ran the course and knew my time stunk massively. It was to be a one run affair only. That's the way it always is at Mud Meet. Turns out I had the 28th fastest time, a humble 11 seconds slower than the winner. Granted there were around 34 people that ran the alpine course.
I took off clothes and headed back out for the cross country course. I knew I was toast on this event as well. I ended up taking 25th place in the cross country portion of the event. I might have did better if I was using the cross skis and pole versus the alpine equipment but the borrowed equipment was being used by other people and had a nice long line of waiters wanting to use it. I was out there for the fun of the event so it didn't really matter to me how poorly I did.
I headed back inside and as the morning events wrapped up I helped input the times in the computer and got everything straightened out on the computer so we could print off a sheet showing the results following the morning portion of the event. I was running late for getting over to the 50 meter jump and getting any practice in before the target competition. This was going to be the first year since I started jumping, 2001, that the 50 was going to be used for anything during Mud Meet. Mother Nature has cooperated beautifully and hill is still in fabulous condition. The hill is in much better shape than it was at this time last year. Friday March 10th, 2006 was the last day we jumped the 50 last year and it wasn't in the best of shape then. This year on March 10th it was in perfect shape. The weather forecast right now sounds like we my very well be jumping the 50 for the next couple of weeks yet. We may end up trying for April jumping on the 50 if were not careful. That would be a first. Highs this week are forecast to be in the low to mid 40s with a little bit rain mid week and then by next weekend the highs aren't suppose to be above freezing. Perfect.
I get suited up and head up to the knoll. Everyone is already climbing the tressel and I decide to play it safe given the weather conditions and take an outrun. Yes, I took an outrun, such an evil concept, LOL!!! I realize quickly that it has been a while since I last jumped and the last thing I jumped was the 90. Man was that outrun slow. I walk back up and climb the tressel for the first jump. I'm at the back of the pack and go last. The ride down the inrun was fine and I skittishly jumped at the takeoff. Definitely not a good old fashioned jump like I have gotten used to this winter, not by a long shot. I had noticed the mind trying to play a few tricks with me before I even started down the inrun. I wasn't about to let the head games win. I land the jump, very short, roughly 30 meters at the best, and ride down the landing hill, again skittishly. Somewhere around the transition I lose it and end up sitting back. My right arm also went back and I know that it hasn't totally healed up yet. I finish sliding and take off the skis and walk over to the side of the jump where I would normally go to walk back up to the jump inn after finishing jumping for the evening. I knew I definitely hadn't made the cut for the second round.
I walk back to the lodge and wait for the regular competition to begin on the 10 and 25 meter jumps. I end up helping out some more on the computer to get something straightened out. By the time I get it all done the practice on the 25 is over and I come to realize that my first jump on the 25 for the winter is going be during Mud Meet. The competition on the 10 finishes up and its time to head on up the 25.
To say I was a little skittish would be an understatement. I had been dreading this jump all winter, yet alone given the way the two most recent jumps I had taken went made me even more skittish. It comes my time to go and I head down the inrun and it goes nice and smooth like, better than what I thought it would go. I "jump" at the takeoff. It doesn't seem like it goes anywhere. Everybody afterwords was telling I was trying to drop a tip again. I landing with a two footed landing and end up sitting down on the landing. I start thinking I have been through this before, CRAP!!! I'm fearing the worst to say the least. I'm seeing myself crashing every jump I take. I ended up with a jump at either 12 or 12.5 meters. I haven't had a jump that short on the 25 in years. Talk about being outside your norm.
I head back up for the second jump, I'm not about to give in to the brain for a split second. On the second I forget to cock the ankles altogether. I realize it in the air and manage to pull off the landing. The only I forgot, since I haven't jumped the 25 all winter, is that the outrun isn't all that long and trying to snowplow to a stop on the outrun on the 25 just doesn't work all that well. I end up going up over the back side off the end of the outrun. I did manage to improve to a 15 meter jump on the second jump.
By the third jump I was starting to get a little "mad". I knew I wasn't feeling confident at all so while waiting to head up the tressel for the last comp round jump I decided to tap on not feeling confident with my jumping. When I went to walk up the tressel I noticed that I was starting to feel more confident/spunky toward my jumping. I also knew that I had only one thing to think about, cocking the ankles. I start down the inrun and before getting to the table I tell myself to cock the ankles. This time it goes much better than before. I ended up landing at 17 meters, closer to my typical winter jump on the 25 but nowhere near my best by a long shot. I put in a hockey stop and then head inside to see how the results are coming along.
After the data has been double checked we go to print out the final result and finish printing up the ski meister cards. We notice that their is something wrong. After doing some reinputting of data to make everything correct I let the women take over and finish up the cards while I head back and see the hoop of fire already lit up on the 25 inrun. I haven't missed jumping the hoop of fire since I started jumping. Everytime it has been lit I have jumped through it, today was gong to be no exception to the rule.
I quickly walk up the steps and put on my skis and take my first jump through the flaming hoop, unfortunately no video this year(darn it), I just remember to tell myself as I'm going through the hoop to cock the ankles. It goes the same way for the second and third jumps through the flaming hoop.
After the third jump I decided to call it quits for the day and went back in to make sure everything was going okay with the results. Afterwords I change my clothes and took my skis back up to the jump inn. Other than not cocking the ankles and trying to get over jumping the 25 for the first time this winter everything else with the day went pretty good. I did end up taking 20th in the jumping, definitely not my best finish in jumping in years. I should have been much closer to 10th than 20th place.
Hopefully I'l get back on the 25 Sunday and spend some time working on cocking the ankles, reliably, and also work on getting myself ready for summer jumping on the 25 as well. I guess Monday afternoon I'll be jumping the 50 again. Hopefully if everything goes like I want it to then by the time next weekend is over I'll have my 50 days of jumping in for the winter and may be able to pull off a few extra days as well. To have so many weeks off this winter due to injury and weather and still have so many days of jumping in is quite a shock. I only wonder what would have happened if everything would have cooperated all winter long.
Crash
