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, November 01, 2008

Jumping Journal: November 01, 2008

Month 95.  The end of another summer of ski jumping
 
The end to another summer of ski jumping.  It definitely didn't feel much like summer today.  It was probably one of the coldest days of jumping on plastic that I have had in a few years.  I'm used to thinking of jumping in April or November but it has normally been in the mid to upper 50s or even warmer when I jump.  Today wasn't the case.
 
I arrived at Storrs Hill late this afternoon for the final, planned, jump session of the summer under sunny skies and the temperature was about 45 degrees.  The light wind was helping to make it feel like it was even colder.  I found Cannonball setting up his amplifer and other gear for a performance he was doing after we jumped at the hill.  Their was going to be a Halloween party/bonfire tonight and it was decided to jump beforehand instead of making two trips up to the hill.
 
Todd showed up a few minutes later and Cannonball asked him if he was going to join me jumping.  Todd was one of the new master class jumpers who started jumping this past winter.  He has been out a few times this summer and decided to give it another shot before winter arrived.  He walked backto his place, just a short five minute or so walk away and picked up his gear.  Cannonball and I got the hose laid out and I changed clothes and headed on up the jump.
 
The first jump wasn't too bad it did seem short for some reason even though everything else seemed like it was about the same as always.  I had soaped up beforehand but it still seemed like I landed around 16.5-17 meters instead of the down closer to 19 like I normally would if I put soap on the skis.
 
The second jump ended up just about the same location.  Once again I was a little surprised and confused as to what I was doing differently compared to the past several times I have been out jumping.
 
The third jump made its way a little bit further down the hill.  Jump four I managed to spread the tips a bit and ended up back into the normal 18.5-19 meter range. I normally get that far even without the V.  I did get caught off guard a little by the distance and I think I must have landed a bit stiff as well.  At first I thought I had made it just fine and about then I started to go over.  I managed to pull off a nice partial save and didn't end up going over completely like I normally would but I didn't stop still up on me feet either.
 
The fifth and final jump of the session didn't find quite as nice of a V as the one before it but it still seemed like their was a bit of separation.  I landed it in the same area as the previous jump and rode it out to a smooth stop slightly off to the side of the actual outrun, nothing unusual to say the least.
 
Another summer over.  It has probably been my second biggest summer of ski jumping I've had in the eight summers I've been out.  2006 is still by WAY far the biggest summer with 225+ jumps that summer.  Granted that was the summer we were trying to jump 52 consectutive weeks at Storrs Hill.  Dan and I both ended up with 225+ jumps.  Most of the time before and since I have only been getting around 80-85 jumps a summer.  Last year I did have that one extra day up in Lake Placid when I picked up an additional 11 jumps I normally wouldn't get.  I'm going to have to look back at last year and see if I had more jumps last year than this year or not.  The jumps that day on the K48 would be the only thing that could have gotten me more jumps last year.
 
Hopefully the 95 jumps this summer will carry nicely into this winter.  I asked Cannonball what his wild guess would be as to when we would start jumping on the K50 this winter.  It seems like it is typically around December 18th but has been as early as the 6th or 7th and as late as last year on something like the 22nd(thanks to snow making equipment being worked on so we couldn't make snow any earlier).  He said he was hoping for December 10th.  I'm guessing a few days later, closer to the weekend of the 13th/14th.  I'm just hoping to pull off the same number of jumps on the K50 this winter as I had last winter.  If I can...I'll have a nice three year total of 1000 jumps on the K50...not too shabby.
 
So now for the long fall break.  Maybe if I get lucky I'll be able to get some other things accomplished before snow starts falling, I HOPE!
 
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