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)

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Jumping Journal: April 14, 2007

Day 48.  Only two more days and I will have 50 days jumping on snow for the 5th year in a row.  48 days isn't bad though for all the time that I have had off, between Mother Nature in mid January, a concussion in late February/early March, the flu in mid March, and what was thought to be the arrival of spring in late March.  Not bad at all.
 
After a warmer night than was forecast I got to the hill to find it had faired better than I thought it would.  The forecast was for mid to upper 20s for overnight lows but the temps never dropped below freezing.  We did end up doing some work up on the top of the inrun.  A couple of the wooden cleats, used to hold the snow in place on the inrun, had started to melt away.  They were still covered but without doing the work I doubt we would have gotten as many jumps in as we did without having to stop and do the work while jumping.  Everything else held up real nice.  Cannonball did run the snowmobile with a drag behind it through the outrun which did help to pack it down some more.  He also raked the landing hill while we were changing clothes.
 
Dan, Matt and I all headed on up for yet another crazy day of jumping on snow in April in Lebanon.  Matt only took three jumps as he needed to get home to get ready to go to a Boston Red Sox baseball game.  Talk about strange, ski jumping, ON SNOW, in the morning and going to a baseball game in the afternoon.
 
I was a little amazed about how much better I felt today than yesterday.  I noticed from the first jump on that my inrun position was returning to a more normal position than what it was yesterday.  Granted it still had a LONG way to go before I would be in a nice tuck position but I was getting much more comfortable.  I wasn't so worried about the slow or sticky possibilities on the inrun and it allowed me to be able to get into more of a tuck.
 
The first jump...well it happened, that's about all I can say.  Watching the video of the jump that Cannonball shot just a second ago, leaves me speechless.  Definitely one of those jumps were things just don't go like their suppose to.  I didn't lock the knees like I should have, I only cocked the right ankle, and it kinda seemd like I jumped more so straight up rather than out.  Yeah, I still managed to stay upright on the landing and rode it out fine but it was one heck of a different jump.  I will see if I can't get the video captured here later on tonight and post the video from today on video.google.com by tomorrow morning.  I'm also hoping to do some comparative video that I may post as well, comparing inrun speeds between mid-season and today.  I'm not sure if I will be able to tell any difference or not, it will be interesting, video doesn't lie.
 
On the first jump I did drop back to the heels but not as much a yesterday.  The rest of the jumps I ended up staying upright and stopping like I normally would.  On the last three or four jumps I started the snowplow earlier than normal.  I was trying to stop on the flat part of the outrun between the two uphill stretches.  I had nothing but trouble yesterday trying to turn around and ski back down to the stairs whenever I stopped on the second uphill stretch of the outrun.  Normally during the regular winter I have no trouble but with the very soft snow on the outrun and a couple of small bald spots it was making it tricky to say the least.  Granted I was only person having any problems with, what else is new.
 
Coming down the inrun on the second jump I noticed the same sticky spot that I noticed yesterday.  By the end of the day I was getting way to use to the sticky spot.  I had rubbed more wax on my skis before I jumped today but it wasn't going to make much of a differnce.  Dan also was noticing the sticky spot as well.  It was the only spot on the inrun that was sticky.  It didn't look like it should be but it was.  Right around the takeoff looked like it was wet and that it should be sticky, but it wasn't sticky at all.  CRAZY!
 
The second and third jumps were both better than any of the jumps yesterday, by far.  I was starting to think that the old time jumping was returning.  By distance at last it was returning.  I was getting down around 28-30 meters which is where I was always landing each of the past three years or so.  It wasn't really until this year that I started jumping further.
 
Jumps four and five were back around where I was landing yesterday.  They were still nice and solid jumps and I couldn't complain given that the jumps were being taken in mid April.  The sixth and final jump of the day did head back toward the 30 meter area .
 
Currently the weather forecast is for rain/snow to start around noon time tomorrow.  Coming tomorrow evening it is suppose to change to all snow and stay that way until around noon time on Monday.  Snowfall totals are looking to be anywhere from 4-12 inches.  Yep, it looks like still yet more snow is on the way for this long jumping season.  How much longer we can hold out and keep on jumping is another question.  I think all of us are beginning to think that the Greenhouse Effect is total crap.  Hopefully, we will manage to grab a couple more days of jumping.  I would love to see 50 days on snow this winter.  The extended forecast is still calling for cool weather until next Saturday when it is suppose to really warm up to around 54 degrees.  Oh yeah, today the average overnight low moves on up to to 33 degrees.  Admittedly the temperature did climb up to the mid 40s today, but the average high is still 52.  This weather is truly CRAZY!!!!!
 
I will see what I can do to get the video from today up on the net and then post a link to the blog tomorrow.
 
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