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)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Jumping Journal: April 26, 2009

The BIG day...finally here.  Who was that ski hall of famer?
 
I truly didn't think it would happen.  Sometimes you just think it's not possible.  You got the goal in mind but it just seems so unrealistic that you can't believe it is possible until you have no other choice.  After having one of the two goals for this past winter og by the wayside thanks to one problem after another it kinda helped reinforced the expectations that something was bound to go wrong for before the other goal could be achieved.
 
Today was the day for the second goal to be achieved.  The goal of jumping for 100 consectutive months.  I don't think anyone else has ever put together 100 months in a row of ski jumping.  The thought is just so unfathomable that I kept waiting for something to happen.  What else can you expect?
 
After one of the earliest finishes to winter ski jumping in recent memory, March 16th, it wasn't long before the snow in my backyard was totally melted.  By my birthday, April 7th, I had lost all the snow in my backyard.  I don't think I've lost the snow that early in the spring before.  Normally its mid month and back in 2001 I didn't lose all the snow in my yard until May 3rd(yes...naturally fallen snow, not where I shovel it to get it out of my way).  The temperature have remained relatively normal to a bit on the milder side than normal...at least until yesterday.
 
Yesterday the forecast had been for highs to be in the low 80s.  I headed down to Brattleboro, VT for the annual Eastern Division Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined Spring Meeting.  After the meeting was over I walked outside and about had my breath taken away.  It was 92 degrees out.  I think its the first time I have ever seen the thermometer hit 90 degree in New Hampshire in April and I've lived up here nine years now.  I guess from what I have read it was setting record highs all over the place.
 
I woke up this morning to overcast skies with some sun trying to peek out at times and it was still close to 70 degrees at 7AM.  Very unusual weather for this time of the year.  After working some on a possible Eastern newsletter I finally left to make a couple of stops on way up to Lebanon to jump.
 
I arrived at the hill around 2:45PM and found Cannonball and Esky getting the hose stretched out between the bottom of the K25 and the top of the 'get the feel for plastic' on the K10 landing hill.  We talked for a several minutes while waiting for other jumpers to show up.  In all, considering several jumpers that would have been out had their clubs end of the year party this afternoon, the turnout wasn't bad.  Bill and I ended up jumping while Dan was helping out due to some injuries from playing hockey and Mike was still sitting it out after he rattled his head pretty good about a week before Mud Meet and still hasn't come back to it fully yet.  There was also five junior jumpers and one high school jumper that rounded out the field.  Not bad for the first day of jumping for the summer.  BUT...there was another surprise to be found out about after my first couple of jumps was taken.  There was another well known figure present.
 
We did a warm up run and proceeded to stretch afterwards.  While the kids were doing immotation with Cannonball I walked over and grabbed my equipment from the jump inn.  I walked back into the lodge to changes into my 'jump suit'...err blue jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt.  As I walked in I noticed one of the jumpers was in there sitting on a picnic table.  I hadn't seen the jumper since we reached the turn around point on the run.  She never stretched with us and I had wondered where she disappeared to.  In talking with her I found out what was going on and managed to talk some sense into her and we suited up and headed on out to jump.
 
After the newbies had taken a couple of rides on the K10 landing hill to get use to the idea of stopping they headed on up to the K25 landing hill and rode the landing hill.  I stood by the takeoff until Bill came back up and we headed on up the jump to grab our first jump of the summer season.
 
I rubbed some soap Bill had with him on my skis and then stepped up on the raised platform on the top of the jump and put my skis on.  Bill watered down the top of the inrun.  I got the signal from Cannonball and started down the inrun.  I quickly grabbed.  For some strange reason I was sticking.  I was shocked/surprised to say the least.  I wasn't expecting that to happen.  I kept sticking about half way down the inrun.  I was way off balance but managed to come back around right before I reached the takeoff.  I had a crappy jump as a result.  I managed to land and ride it out without any trouble.
 
I walked back up and watched Bill come down and he was sticking a little as well.  It was definitely noticable.  The only I could figure it had to be the soap.  We have used both liquid and rub on soap for the past several years and have never had any trouble sticking on the inrun.  Even when I haven't used soap I haven't had any trouble sticking, only a lack of speed going down the inrun.  The lack of speed was consistent all the way down the inrun and not like I would be sticking.  This was a totally new experience for summer ski jumping.
 
Bill brought up some of the liquid soap from the lodge kitchen and by the time the new kids had taken their first jump off the telebump Bill and I was soaping up our skis with the liquid soap when Bill said something to me.  I didn't fully hear what he said so I had him say it again.  He said Bill Koch just put in a sweet telemark landing over on the K10.  He said Bill Koch was one of his 'idols' when he was a kid.  I kinda laughed.  I hadn't seen anyone jumping over there since Celia had taken a couple of landing hill rides.  I looked over and saw a man walking up the side of the jump with his skis on.  I still figured Bill was pulling my leg.
 
Now I have to admit, like I said at the top of this entry I spent last night/early this morning looking into possibly doing an Eastern newsletter.  I had looked at the way Don West had put up the old Eastern newsletters on www.skijumpeast.com previously.  I saw one of the old issues this morning that showed the picture of Bill Koch receiving the award for being inducted into the Ski Hall Of Fame a few years back.  I had always thought he was dead.  Since the Bill Koch Youth Ski League is named for him I figured the only way it was named for him was for him to be dead.  Seeing his picture earlier this morning from a 2005 newsletter kinda proved that theory wrong and now I was being told that Bill Koch was at Storrs Hill at the very moment!
 
I got the signal and headed down the inrun.  For the first 10-15 feet everything seemed fine.  Then I hit one single sticky spot once again.  I was really stumped when that occured.  I jumped at the takeoff and landed and got onto the sawdust in the outrun and found myself tipping over sideways to the right.  This was also rather strange.
 
As I was walking back to the stairs the guy comes down the landing hill on the K10 and I see him 'jump' and put in a REAL NICE telemark landing.  He comes over and we chat for a minute or two and he introduces himself as Bill Koch.  I admitted to him that I had always figured he was dead and he said I would be surprised at the number of kids that meet him and tell him the same thing.  After chatting a for a couple of minutes and Bill Ryan joining in the conversation we both take off and head on the landing hill.  Bill Ryan said he was going to take one more jump and call it quits.
 
After soaping up again I got the signal from Cannonball and headed down the inrun.  Fortunately, the stickiness had come to end, at least for the rest of today.  I jumped at the takeoff and had a decent jump, considering it was March 16th when I last jumped.  I rode the landing hill and then did the same thing...only biting it sooner on the sawdust.  Man...sawdust doesn't taste very good, LOL!!!
 
I walked back up and took another jump and was joined this time by the high school student as none of the other kids felt comfortable enough to try jumping the K25 just yet.  I had the same results on the sawdust again.  I was really stumped.   I knew it seemed like I was always getting tipped over to the right everytime.  Each time I tipped over it seemed like it was getting a little nastier.
 
I walked back up the landing hill and as I was going up I saw Bill Koch riding the K25 landing hill and put in a small jump and drop into a full tele.  I haven't ever seen anyone ride a tele like that on a landing hill of a ski jump.  NEVER!  I was very highly impressed.
 
As I pass by Cannonball he tells me that I was leaning too much to the right...like I didn't already know that.  He did suggest trying to to keep the feet a bit further apart.  I walked on up and got the signal from Cannonball for the last jump.  I headed down the inrun and jumped.  It still wasn't anything as nice as most of the jumps I was having last summer but at least I did manage to finally stay on my feet the whole way through until I came to a stop.
 
I looked off to the side and Bill said you finally managed to get it right.  I walked over and we chatted again for probably 10-15 minutes while watching the last of the kids jump.  Three of the newbie junior jumpers ended up taking their first ride off the K25 as their last ride of the day.
 
All in all it was a rather interesting day for the 100th consectutive month of ski jumping.  The jumping was some of the wildest and craziest jumping I've had in a long time and seeing a former Olympian with the skis on and putting in gorgeous tele's just made up for the bad jumps I ended up taking.  Hopefully next Monday things...on the jumping side of the equation, will return to normal.
 
Keep the ski tips up,
Crash

Winter 2009 Totals

Date      Leb 25 Han 32 Leb 50 Nwpt 25 Nwpt 32 And 38 VA 35
Dec 27     9
Jan 01     9
Jan 04    13
Jan 06     2
Jan 10    20+
Jan 13     1
Jan 17            11
Jan 20                   3
Jan 21                         7        2
Jan 23                         1        3
Jan 24                   2
Jan 26                         1        9
Feb 03                                  9
Feb 04                                          3
Feb 05                                  9
Feb 07                   7
Feb 10     6
Feb 13                                          1 
Feb 15                                 13
Feb 24     7
Feb 26                   6
Feb 28                                                 6
Mar 03     7
Mar 05                   5
Mar 07                   1
Mar 13                   5
Mar 14     4
Mar 16                   8
Total     78+     11    37      9      45       4      6
 
Total 190+ jumps in 28 days or 6.78 jumps/day.  Total jumps and number of days jumping was
the smallest I've had in any winter since I started jumping.
 
This was the first time in many years I had more jumps on the K25 than on the K50.  Yet alone
having more jumps at Newport than on the K50.
 
Definitely the strangest winter ever.
 
For a year by year comparison check out 2006(scroll down to the second entry)
                                     or 2007(scroll down to the second entry)
                                     or 2008(scroll down to the second entry)
Winter 2010
DateLeb 25Plymouth 25Leb 50And 38
Dec 121
Jan 056
Jan 063
Feb 024
Feb 032
Feb 046
Feb 073
Mar 063
Totals133102