Jumping Journal: December 26, 2007

Natural snow versus ice...which is faster?  LMAO!!!

 

I guess my memory must have slipped.  I forgot the difference that I should have been expecting.

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day saw warm weather finally return here in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire.  The first 22 days of December never saw temps get above 37-ish.  The past couple of days have hardly seen temperatures drop into the 20s, even for overnight lows.  To top it all off we even saw rain and plenty of wind on the 23rd.  Yes, rain and snow mix to make for icy conditions on a ski jump.  Yes, icy conditions.

 

I got to Storrs Hill this afternoon and helped Cannonball get the plastic off the 50 so we could cut a new track on the inrun.  While we were doing that a couple of other jumpers worked on get the knoll snowed back in.  It was pretty obvious before the rain came that part of the knoll was going to be down to grass by tonight.  Sure enough it was, just not as bad as what I thought it would be.

 

After getting the jump ready we suited up and we all headed out for the jump.  Yes, their was a nice crowd out tonight, several faces I haven't seen in a while.  Four adults, 2 college students home for Christmas and one high school student rounded out the field tonight.

 

It came time for my first jump and Cannonball yelled up at me to make sure and stay on the whole foot.  The jumper before me hadn't and ended up popping out of the shallow track.  I headed down and didn't find any trouble with the inrun, at least not on the first jump of the evening.  Then again, I was just trying to stay up with the inrun.  The icy conditions were catching me WAY off guard.  I forgot about how fast the 50 could really be.  My timing at the takeoff was late, not surprisingly, but I still managed to put in one of the longest jumps of the season, without trying.

 

I walked back up and waited in line for the second jump.  This time I was a little better prepared for the additional speed on the inrun.  I did managed to slip the left foot out of the track at point, and I managed to do it on each of the remaining jumps all evening.  I got to the takeoff and was late again, but once again it seemed like the jump was a little further down the hill then before.

 

The third jump was just about the same as the second, as was the fourth jump.  The fifth jump was again pretty much the same but I was starting to really notice something.  I was noticing that it seemed like I was actually having a hard time getting out of the inrun position at the takeoff and that was causing me to jump late.  As I walked up the landing hill stairs I heard Cannonball tell someone to make sure they wasn't sitting back too much.  It hit me.  I quickly realized why I was having the problem of not being able to get out of the inrun position.  I was also sitting back too much in my inrun position and it was making me have to work too hard to get out of the inrun position.  I decided to work on that solely on the next jump.

 

I get up top for the sixth jump of the evening.  I head down the inrun, this time really watching my tuck position and making sure that I'm staying on top of the skis instead of letting myself get back over the tails.  I get to the takeoff and jump rather effortlessly and with the best timing that I've had in ages on a jump.  The whole feel to the jump was a feeling like I've had maybe only one or two other times.  It really felt like I was shot right out over the skis.  It was the nicest feeling jump that I've had, quite possibly ever.

 

I land with the longest jump of the season thus far, by a wide margin.  At least 5-6 meters further than any other jump so far this winter.  I was getting down around 35-37meters.  The increase in distance definitely showed that that idea worked QUITE WELL.

 

I walked back for the seventh jump and wanted to see if I could repeat the jump again.  I ended up letting my guard down a little but it was still the second best jump of the season.  It didn't have the nice feeling of the jump before it though.  The timing was a little late and I tend to think it was because I was sitting back just a little more than I should have been.

 

I went up for what I figured was going to be the last jump of the evening and I decided to make the best of it.  After getting up top I heard Cannonball tell the high school student that if we wanted one more jump after this one that we could take it.  I thought "Oh well, guess I'll get nine jumps tonight instead of eight.  I won't complain any."

 

I head down the inrun, really watching my inrun position.  I get to the takeoff and jump, pretty much on time and get a nice flight position.  I end up landing in the 36-37 meter range once again.  I didn't quite nice the "launch" position like I had two jumps earlier but it wasn't far from it.

 

I walk up the stairs for the final jump of the evening and it ends up being just like the jump before it.  All of a sudden I have went from jumping like crap over the weekend to jumping quite nice like tonight.  I can't complain any.  I do notice the difference the inrun position was making between the early jumps and the jumps at the end of the session.

 

Now if I could only get my mind to force me to remember this stuff year round and not have to relearn it each winter I would be set, LOL!!!  Gee, having 84 consectutive months of ski jumping under my belt should make it impossible to forget this simple stuff, you'd think.

 

Keep the ski tips up,

Crash