Jumping Journal: October 26, 2008

Down to the wire.  Talk about pressing your luck  Month 94.

 

Well, the first Sunday of October came with a bit of changing plans for the entire month.  I figured I would get out and get October safe and secure under my belt right at the beginning of the month.  Reality had other plans for me and I ended up not being able to get out.  Columbus Day Weekend we normally take off due to the big competition(this year US Nationals) in Lake Placid, NY.  Several people head over to help out with the event and we usually just end up taking the week off.  Last week I arrived at the hill to find the top of the inrun being worked on the replace the picnic table idea with a new, permanent concept.  We wasn't able to finish it off until this afternoon.

 

After a rather interesting morning/early afternoon I arrived at Storrs Hill to find the guys up top finishing up the work on the inrun.  I helped out some and then got the hoses pulled out and hooked up so we could jump while the Cannonball and Esky were finishing up putting the plastic on the top of the new box.

 

I changed clothes and headed on up the jump to be the only person to jump in Lebanon this month.  Turns out after the work on the first weekend of the month no one ended up jumping so it came down to someone having to jump today or else the 133 month streak on the K25 would be over.  Naw, I wouldn't let that happen...I have my own streak that would come to end if I did that.

 

I soaped up the skis before heading on up the inrun.  I figured I would save Cannonball from yelling at for not soaping up and do it anyways.  After this morning I kinda knew I needed to no matter what.

 

The first jump went pretty smooth for not having been out jumping in a four weeks.  The new box on top is much better than the old picnic table, BY FAR, and I didn't notice any kind of bump when I came off the box and back onto the inrun.  Cannonball questioned me about it after the first jump.  I ended up getting a nice 19-20 meter jump for the first ride and was kinda caught off guard how much quicker I was coming to a stop as I slid across the leaves that have fallen.  The past few times it has taken a lot more room to come to a complete stop than it was today.

 

The second jump seemed to me like it wasn't as good as the first jump but Cannonball thought otherwise.  He only asked for more power at the takeoff on the third jump.

 

The third jump seemed like I put more power into it and it seemed like I was trying to get further down the hill but pulled out instead of holding the flight position all the way into the hill.  I did come down with a bit of a harder landing than on the previous two jumps.

 

The fourth jump was a lot like the third jump with the landing being smoother.  I was pretty much getting down into the 18-19 meter range on both jumps.

 

The fifth and final jump of the day and I decided to go back to keeping my eyes up.  I had noticed on the previous jump or two that I wasn't keeping my eyes looking to the bottom of the landing hill.  I came down the inrun and set my eyes outward instead of downward and kept them there throughout the flight.  It was a little different using the periphial(sp?) vision to decide when to land.  I guess it has been a month since I last jumped, LOL!  It seemed like it was about the best jump of the day even though I couldn't tell you where I landed.

 

Gee, now a whole six days off before the final day of jumping on plastic for the year.  At least that is the way it is scheduled right now.  WIth the Halloween party/bonfire scheduled for next Saturday evening we are going to jump in the afternoon before the party.  Another summer of ski jumping almost over.  At least I have 90 jumps so far for the summer.  Normally I only end up with 80-85 jumps on plastic each year.  I guess this year will be slightly different from the past.

 

Crasj