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, January 05, 2008

Jumping Journal: January 05, 2008

Alert the media, he jumped.  Boy has it been one strange winter thus far.  To only have eight days of ski jumping in and it's already the 5th of January...something weird is going on.
 
After thinking I had taken care of my ski problem and it turned out to not be working as planned I swapped skis and boots and tried a different pair.  I ended up breaking the cord on that pair on the second jump I took with them.  Yes, things just can't seem to get any better can they.
 
January 2nd found us cleaning up from the snow storm of New Year's Day. January 3rd found us basking in subzero temperatures.  I went up the Storrs Hill to jump.  I found a different pair of skis that I could use and headed up to the takeoff to ride the landing hill.  Everything seemed great until I got up there.  I put the left ski on and went to put the cord plug in the back of the boot.  The problem was I couldn't get the plug to go in the boot.  I tried several times, with boot feet but I couldn't get the plug to go in.  I was out of it mentally before I even got suited up and this wasn't helping matters any.  I walked back down to the jump inn and unsuited and then decided to take another look at the boot/pkug problem.  I found out the secret was I had to pound the plug in to get it to go in.  I guess the boot/ski combination was still on the new side and hadn't been broken in yet.  I decided to skip putting everything back on since I knew everyone wouldn't be taking all that many jumps with the subzero temperatures.
 
I put my "new" skis in my car as I was going to take them home and try again to fix the dang problem with the front throw.  I spent a good chunk of the day Friday trying to get something to work that would hold the screws in place and thought I had a setup that might work half ways decent.  I was going to have to finish it up this morning though as I need to run to the store to get another part to finish off the job.
 
I finished off the job this morning and saw that it probably wasn't going to be much better, but maybe a little better.  I left for Lebanon around 9:30AM and in a little over a half and hour I  was at the hill.  Dan and Cannonball was already there and were suiting up as I walked into the jump inn.  I suited up and headed on up to take a ride on the landing hill.
 
I figured with some forethought on my part that I should be able to safely jump the skis the way they are.  Cannonball told me about one of the Dion brothers that used to jump without any front throw at all.  That kinda helped with the confidence factor in the equipment, somewhat.
 
I rode the landing hill and noticed something rather strange and unusual.  I noticed my left ski was acting up quite a bit.  It was slopping around all over the landing hill.  I haven't ever noticed it acting up that bad before, nowhere even close.
 
I walked on up and got ready for the first jump.  I headed down the inrun and jumped, probably a little on the late side.  The jump wasn't anything spectacular by any means.  I landed around 30 meters and rode the landing hill.  This time I noticed how baby butt smooth the landing hill was between 40 meter and the transition.  I don't think I've seen any landing hill that was so smooth before.  I didn't feel a bump or anything the entire stretch.  I heard one of the kids Thursday night talking about how good the landing hill was but until my first jump today I was just passing off the comment as "asskissing".  Now I'm believing it, BIG TIME!
 
I headed up for the second jump and it was a lot like the first jump except I did notice once again the left foot "out of control" on the landing hill.  The third jump was a little better and I didn't really notice the landing hill problem.
 
The fourth jump would be the jump of the morning session.  I headed down the inrun working on getting my shin angle set and keeping the butt up on the inrun.  It was going good.  I knew it would be a matter of timing at the takeoff.  I jumped at the takeoff and for only the second of third time in all the years I've been jumping I felt like I made the correct move at the takeoff.  It felt like I launched myself right out over the skis.  I ended up landing in the 36-38 meter range.  Finally I was getting down the hill once again.
 
I found myself late at the takeoff on the fifth and final jump of the morning session.  It was back up in the 30-32 meter range once again.  During the morning session I was pushing the top screw on the front throw back into the anchor that I was to try to hold the front throw down.  It was obvious that I shouldn't have any problems with front throw coming off but it was still going to be a pain in the butt to make sure I didn't lose the screw.
 
After a long lunch break watch some first time jumpers jump on the K10 and K25 I headed back over to the K50 for the afternoon session.  Several jumpers were already heading up toward the takeoff from the jump inn as I was walking over to the jump inn.  I suited up and headed on up the jump.
 
Most of the seven jumps I took during the afternoon session were in th 30-32 meter range.  I didn't have any "launch" style jumps but did have one jump that I nailed the timing on beautifully.  If I would have also "launched" the jump I probably would have went to the bottom of the hill.  I still managed around 38 meters on the jump.
 
The shocking jump of the session was also the last jump of the session.  I got to the takeoff and jumped...EARLY!  I haven't seen ski tips that unresponsive in a quite a while.  I knew right off the bat that I had jumped early.  The ski tips confirmed it.  Fortunately the tips didn't decide to dive on me but instead just hung there not coming up any at all until I was probably 5-10 meters off the takeoff.  They finally did come up and I managed to land in up the hill aroudn 30-32 meters.
 
Not bad, it only took me until January 5th to have my first double digit day of jumping.  The last time I did ten or more jumps in a day on snow would have been in mid March last winter the day after Mud Meet.
 
Now for the first forejump session of the winter tomorrow.  The annual jump meet in Andover, NH.  Yeah, I'll end up just forejump most of the meets this winter.  I don't have much of a desire to due any competing right now.
 
And yes, the forecast is for warmer temperatures as well.  It was in the mid to upper 20s most of the day today after being subzero and single digit temperatures the past couple of days.  The forecast is for highs in the 40's the next three days and 50 on Wednesday before cooling down toward next weekend.  Can anyone say January thaw.
 
Keep the ski tips up,
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