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, December 29, 2007

Jumping Journal: December 29, 2007

Neither rain nor shine...I guess no snow either...will stop us.  After seeing the forecast for 3-5 inches of snow overnight I also noticed something rather strange and unusual before I headed to bed last night.  Around 8PM the temperature was 30 degrees, just below freezing.  It looked like the forecast for 3-5 inches of snow would more than likely be right on the money.  By the time I went to bed, roughtly 10-11PM the temperature had risen to 35 degrees.  Now the forecast was starting to take on a new twist.  I figured I would have to wait until morning to see what was going to actually occur and see if I was going to get the chance to jump this morning or not.
 
I woke up around 4:40AM to go to the bathroom.  As I looked out the window I noticed the snow had never fallen overnight.  At least by looking at the roof on the storage shed just outside the kitchen window I saw what appeared to be no new snow on the roof.  I looked out the front front door and saw the steps were clean as well.  I figured we must have gotten all rain or a bit of mix of rain and freezing rain overnight.  The thoughts of jumping this morning returned rather quickly.
 
I left for the hill around 9:30AM and the roads weren't bad or anything like that.  It seemed after a little bit of work on the hill that it would be ready to jump and probably be half ways decent.  After tracolating the inrun and doing a quick raking down the landing hill we suited up and headed on out for a nice rather warm morning of jumping at the end of December.
 
I took the first jump of the morning.  It wasn't bad given the slower condition.  Since I had fresh prints in the raked snow I looked on the way back up the stairs and saw it appeared I landed right around 28-30 meters.  The furthest up the hill I could find and ski prints was about 28 meters.  I figured that is where the tails of the skis landed while the feet landed 1-2 meters further downhill.  It is a little different being able to use your own ski prints to tell where you landed.  I haven't did that before.
 
Most of the first four or five jumps were roughly about the same.  The jumps did seem to get shorter as the morning progressed. I figure it was mostly the conditions softening up and slowing down thanks to the warm weather.  All my jumps throughout the morning were pretty much in the 28-32 meter range.
 
For the most part I was working on keeping knees well set on the inrun and keeping my butt up on the inrun so I wouldn't have the hard time getting out of the inrun position at the takeoff.  I was also working on jumping on time and on the last several jumps also making sure I was cocking my ankles.  On the last two jumps of the day I decided to take it one step further and see if I couldn't throw in a V.
 
The problem with the V has been quite simple.  The first year I jumped, 2001, toward the end of the winter I decided to see if I couldn't get myself to do a V.  I focused on it for a few days and did it maybe once or twice.  I gave up focusing on it and I then I began throwing in a V, unplanned on, on numerous occasions after that.  The worst part of the problem was I wasn't even trying to put in a V, it was just happening on its own.  Now I can hardly ever get myself to throw in a V no matter how hard I try, and if I do throw in the V I have a hard time coming back out of it before I land.
 
On the next to last jump I told myself at the top of the inrun that I would throw in the V.  Sure enough I did, I was quite a bit off the takeoff before I managed to throw it in but it was there and the tips were spread nicely apart.  As always though it seemed like I wasn't in much of a hurry to pull back out of the V before I landed.  My tips were actually still apart when I landed.  Fortunately I did manage to keep it under control.
 
On the final jump the tips didn't come apart quite as much and the landing wasn't quite as harsh either.  I was finally throwing in a V once again.
 
I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to work on it some more.  I figured Dan would want to call it quits after 5-6 jumps.  I was pretty much ready to call it quits.  The warm temperatures was taking it out of me big time.  When Dan kept heading back up I figured I might as well keep jumping as well.  It always seems like my best jumps come toward the end of the session, at least technically speaking.  As he headed up for his eighth jump, to be my ninth jump he said that it would probably be his last jump for the day.  I was relieved.  It was definitely one of the rougher feeling days I've had of jumping in quite a long time, if not ever.  The weather the past several days had been relentless, it just drains the body of energy.  Everyone that has been out has been talking about it.  Normally this is spring kind of weather and not weather that you would normally see at the end of December.  Fortunately the forecast for last next week makes it sound like a nice cool down is coming that should help things out.
 
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