Welcome! It's our mission to promote the sport of ski jumping across a diverse audience: competitors, communities, clubs, families, spectators, sponsors, and media. We provide news and links of regional, national and international interest. We'd like to be your primary source for information about these "frequent flyers!"
People Always Ask Ski Jumpers ... The thrill of victory!"
Though young, they've acquired skills and confidence over hundreds
of rides on smaller jumps, with good coaching and supervision.
You'll be hearing these two names in the future. Imagine how much air
time they'll get in the next ten years ... Coleraine, their home jump,
is equipped with a plastic surface for off-season jumping, and their club runs
continuous practice sessions and training camps throughout the summer.
Despite the dramatic "Agony of Defeat" footage on Wide World of Sports for so many
years, it's a relatively safe sport. If spectacular
crashes were commonplace in ski jumping, ABC wouldn't have kept showing that tired
old video clip for more than 30 years. By the way, that skier (Vinko Bogataj
of Slovenia) walked away with only minor injuries, a bit of fame, and no fortune.
It happened on March 21, 1970; read about it on
ABC Sports Highlights.
Click here to read the answer to another question that ski
jumpers hear all the time ... "How high do they jump?"
Double National Titles for Alborn & Jerome
Alborn flies 221.5 meters in Planica
This wasn't one lucky jump ... it was the best jump by arguably the most consistent
skier on the world's biggest ski jump over a four-day event. Our other U.S.
jumper, Clint Jones, had been consistently strong all week, but slipped back a bit
in today's qualifying. Still, he was impressive in his debut on this huge jump.
This ends the World Cup season, with Alborn in an outstanding 20th place, and now
a solid member of one of the smallest groups of elite athletes in any sport ...
jumpers who have flown over 220 meters. Almost 90 jumpers have earned at least
one World Cup point this year. About 20 nations have ski jumpers who compete
in World Cup events ... something over 100 jumpers.
How is ski flying different from ski jumping?
To put the difference between ski jumping and ski flying into perspective, the two
Olympic jumps are designed as 90 and 120 meter hills; this nominal distance which
may be considered "par" is called the "K-point." If you're interested in how the
K-point figures into scoring in ski jumping and ski flying,
click here.
The longest flight at the 2002 Olympics was 133 meters (436 feet) or 13 meters
beyond "par." The world record of 225 meters at Planica is is 30 meters beyond
"par" on that hill ... and it's a whole football field further than that 133 meter
leap at the Olympics. One more benchmark ... 200 meters is 656 feet, almost
exactly one-eighth of a mile.
Ski flying in the U.S.? You bet!
Junior Olympics - More Info & Photos
Pictured at right is Jonathan Kling, who broke the hill record three times
during the week; it's now 77.5 meters. Skyler Keate and Jessica Jerome
each won gold medals in their own age classes, and then repeated the feat by
competing in a higher age class and winning again!
Women's Ski Jumping Takes Off Jessica Jerome, USA, at age 14, is pictured here on the 118 meter jump at
Westby WI during a Continental Cup meet in January 2002 (Bob Keck photo).
She won the U.S. Women's National Championship in March of 2002, shortly
after turning 15.
See our Photo Gallery page (link at upper left) to view a
larger version of this image, and to see a picture of Lindsey Van, USA, age 17,
on the same hill.
What's The Point? Par For The Course!
Ski Jumping in National Geographic
Fling the Cow (an online game)
Additional Ski Jumping Info
Services to clubs:
"How did you get up the guts to try it the first time?"
Those unfamiliar with the sport invariably ask about "guts." This picture should answer
that question. Ski jumpers don't get up one morning and decide to fly off a hill. Similar
to athletes in many sports, they start young, with small challenges. With lots of coaching
and years of practice, they progress to larger jumps. Click here to
read about it.
Maybe some day one of these kids will be in the Olympics, or World Cup competition, and
here's where it starts. Visit a jump in your area. It's nice to see the experts fly long
distances, but you won't see bigger smiles than those on the faces of these kids from the
Ishpeming Ski Club. They are Marissa, Leif, Mike, Jordan, Cory, and Hannah. These are the
faces of the future of ski jumping!
In early March 2002, several days after the Junior Olympics ended in
Coleraine MN (see article below), these two little guys, inspired by
the older skiers, became the
youngest skiers
to ever fly from Coleraine's
70 meter jump.
Congratulations to Tyler Hutchins (8) and Andre Denney (7).
Back to back wins at U.S. National Championships
Mar 28, 2002 - Two-time Olympian Alan Alborn and high school freshman
Jessica Jerome took top honors in today's season finale on the 114 meter hill,
repeating their performances in yesterday's 90 meter final.
For a complete report, click the U.S. Ski Team logo at upper left.
60,000 spectators see American threaten world record!
Mar 24, 2002 - Alan Alborn became the first American ever to fly further than 220
meters when he flew 221.5 this morning in Planica, Slovenia. The world record of
225 meters, set on this hill two years ago, was approached only by Alborn and
Poland's great Adam Malysz (223.5). Finland's rising star, Matti Hautamaeki,
was their closest rival (216.0), but nobody else even came close to 210.
Of 63 who started, only 13 exceeded 200 meters today.
The distinction between ski jumping and ski flying is sheer distance. There are six
jumps in the world in this category. The world record of 225 meters (738 feet) was
set in Planica in March 2000 by Andreas Goldberger of Austria. This hill is rated
at 185 meters.
There's ONE ski flying hill in the western hemisphere, and it's right here in the
midwestern U.S. It's
Copper Peak, located in
the western end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Currently being reconfigured to
the latest FIS specifications, it is expected be rated as a 170 meter hill. Keep
watching our site for more news about future events at this terrific facility.
Jonathan Kling, Skyler Keate, Jessica Jerome take honors
news & info
photos
final results
daily results
sponsors
Mar 5, 2002 - The Junior Olympics, a
national championship event for boys and girls
from ages 14-18, was held last week at Mt Itasca in Coleraine, MN. Click the
links above for complete coverage and photos from this outstanding tournament,
sponsored by Chevy Trucks and USSA.
Female flyers getting strong results, media recognition
Although there's not yet a women's ski jumping event at the Olympics, the growth
of the sport over the last ten years has been spectacular. There was a feature
on it in U.S. News and World Report on Jan 21, 2002. Click here to
read more about it.
What are "points" and why do they matter?
Ski jumping is scored on distance and technique, with points awarded for both.
Regardless of the size of the hill or the length of the flights, it provides a
standardized scoring mechanism, much like "par" in golf. A score above 200 for two
rounds of competition is outstanding, 250 is exceptional, and 300 is extremely rare.
Click here to learn more about scoring.
Feature Article in NG for Kids, Jan/Feb 2002 issue
Great article on ski jumping, terrific photos! Focuses on flight principles.
Read it online. We're proud to be listed as a resource link.
This is the third major publication to feature ski jumping recently, along with U.S.
News & World Report (twice), and Boys' Life.
Ski Jumping with "Newton's Apple"
The educational TV program, Newton's Apple, did an interesting program on ski jumping.
Click the little apple logo above to view the program transcript online.
Here's a site from Norway that you may find entertaining. It's not exactly ski jumping,
but it's fun ... and it's from the country where ski jumping was invented. Click here to
fling the cow.
Click here to visit our behind the news
page to read some of our recent front page articles about ski jumping. We suggest
that you click our "Related Links" button at the upper left of this page. You can
also click the Ski Team logo at upper left for official U.S. Ski Team news.
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