Frequent Flyers ... visit website, view trailer
Ski jumping has been struggling against long odds for many years in North America, while it's an enormous prime-time TV attraction, with megabucks sponsorship and rock-star status for athletes in Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan. In the US, there is no funding mechanism other than the bank of mom & dad, and and various local fund-raisers. What small support the US Ski Team has given for a handful of athletes in international competition (nothing for development for many, many years) has been stripped. There is NO funding from USSA or the US Ski Team. The men's and women's development teams are INDEPENDENT of USSA/USST.

While this new film is not yet finished, it shows promise of giving an audience some appreciation for what it takes to learn, improve, and finally excel in this demanding but very rewarding individual sport. At the top of this article you'll find a link to a website about this project, and it gives a very realistic assessment of the state of the sport in the US, including both the men's and women's development teams (with links to both). This is one sport where both men and women can participate ... except, as we all know, at the Olympics. We're hoping that will change as a result of the upcoming court decision in Canada, because flight is neither enhanced or hampered by gender.

Letter and Fact Sheet Sent to Rogge
Final attempt to get IOC to relent prior to April 20 BC Supreme Court date
American Lindsey Van and Canadian Katie Willis went to Sportaccord in Denver, where they held a March 25 press conference to announce their request for a private meeting with IOC head Dr. Jacques Rogge ... read 3/25 article.

The IOC apparently "got confused" about who to contact during that week, despite very clear instructions, and ... surprise! ... the meeting wasn't held ... read 3/26 press release.

Making a final attempt to get the IOC president to change his mind prior to a scheduled hearing in front of the British Columbia Supreme Court on April 20, Lindsey Van prepared a thorough and courteous letter to Dr Rogge, which was sent via FedEx along with a fact sheet, requesting once more a meeting at his convenience any time, anywhere, prior to the court date. It's perhaps the last chance to resolve the issue in the women's favor without going through the legal process, which is being handled pro-bono by a prestigious Vancouver law firm ... read 3/30 press release ... includes letter and fact sheet.

US Men's "Project X" Season Wrap-Up
Progress made by young team after season of international competition
We've received the year end report from the US men's team, which is independent of the US Ski Team. While there's still a long way to go to be fully competitive against well-funded teams from countries with huge development programs, there were a number of encouraging performances, and there are reasons for optimism looking ahead to next year ... read report.

Season Finale - Ski Flying in Planica
International competition season wraps up in Slovenia March 20-22
  *  Official Results:   Fri 3/20    Sat 3/21    Sun 3/22    Universal Sports Video
The final chapter in the 2009 ski jumping season was written March 20-22 on the world's biggest ski jump ... on hills this large, it's called ski flying. In Friday's individual competition, only the top three jumpers flew beyond 200 meters. Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer won, followed by Poland's Adam Malysz and Russia's Dimitry Vassiliev.There were more than 70 jumpers on hand for Thursday's training and qualification round. Ten were pre-qualified based on World Cup final standings, and the remaing 60+ were trying to fill the remaining 30 slots to complete the start list of 40 jumpers. Four Americans attempted to qualify, but didn't make the cut. However, just to point out how tough it is to crack this field, the world record holder, Norway's Bjorn Einar Romoeren, didn't qualify, either! We want to commend these US athletes and their teammates for a season which brought some high points and some clear progress for their team, known as Project X.  They are Nick Alexander, Nick Fairall, Mike Glasder, and Anders Johnson. They finished 12th in the team competition Saturday. In Sunday's individual competition, Finland's Harri Olli was the winner. Malysz finished 2nd once again, with Switzerland's Simon Ammann 3rd. The longest jump of the day was by 0lli at 219.5 meters. His teammate Matti Hautamaeki had the longest flight of the weekend at 220.5 in Saturday's team competition.

Demong Wins World Cup NC Finale!
How do you improve on Saturday's silver?  With GOLD on Sunday!
  *  Official Results:   Sat Mar 14     Sat Mar 14     Final WC-NC standings
During the last month of the season, the US Ski Team's Billy Demong has been on a roll, collecting medals with a vengeance. On Saturday March 14, he grabbed the silver in a HS117/10K Nordic Combined event. With a strong XC race after placing 16th in jumping, it put him behind Finland's Anssi Koivuranta and ahead of Norway's Magnus Moan on the podium.  On Sunday, Demong finished a stellar season, winning by almost ten seconds ahead of the Norwegian duo of Petter Tande and Mikko Kokslien. In the final standings, Demong was third overall, behind Finland's Anssi Koivuranta and Norway's Magnus Moan, who finished 8th and 13th today, respectively.

Alex Miller 5th in Conti Cup NC Finale
Another good US finish as Nordic Combined season ends in Finland
  *  Official Results:   Fri Mar 13    Sat Mar 14    Sun Mar 15    Final standings
US Nordic Combined has had a good World Cup season, but the team skiing in the Continental Cup provided a nice finish to the season, with Alex Miller taking fifth place in Rovaniemi FIN on the last day of the season, March 15. Willy Graves finished 20th, Davis Miller 30th, and Skyler Keate 40th. On the previous day, Alex Miller had just missed the top 10, finishing in 11th place. Graves was 18th, Davis Miller 34th, and Keate 39th. On Friday it was A Miller 10th, D Miller 24th, and Keate 41st. Graves did not compete in Friday's event.

Schlierenzauer Wins Ski Flying Mar 15
Austrian takes individual title after his team wins on Saturday evening
  *  Official Results:   Team Sat Mar 14     Individual Sun Mar 15
The Austrians won the team ski flying competition Saturday evening. Their hottest jumper, Gregor Schlierenzauer flew 213 and 224 meters, but fell after landing on the longer flight. Finland's Harri Olli made it to 219 meters, tying the existing hill record. On Sunday, Schlierenzauer won the individual ski flying event, with Switzerland's Simon Ammann 2nd and Russia's Dimitry Vassiliev 3rd. Sunday was warm and sunny, with only 3 jumps past 200M, longest 207.

Sagen OK After Fall, Didn't Jump Sunday
X-rays negative ... read Saturday morning  news update
Norway's Anette Sagen, who fell after landing on a 177 meter flight in Friday's second test round, was given a precautionary trip to the hospital for x-rays on her left leg. The x-rays proved negative, and she left the hospital with an elastic wrap and a smile. Her ankle was still a little sore, so she didn't jump Sunday. Read Saturday's update via link above.

Sagen Flies 177M, Falls After Landing
Many distances short (both men & women) ... link to results below
We have been following the action on a blog that's mostly in Norwegian, but have managed to gather a bit of information. You can view  Friday's test jump results.  In the second round, Anette Sagen blasted out a mighty 177 meters, but fell after landing. She had an injury to her left leg, and was taken for X-rays, but the injury was not believed to be serious. We're not going to offer opinions and commentary until we have more info, including news reports.

You can follow this weekend's action on the Vikersund website  (choose your language by clicking a British flag in the upper left corner of the homepage.  The schedule of events is posted, there's a link to Vikersund-TV, a webcam, weather reports, and a feature called "Cover It Live" which is a real-time blog (you have to sign up, free & easy to register).

After all this drama, we want to remind you that two US men are entered in the ski flying competition, Nick Fairall, who placed 23rd and 24th in ski flying at Kulm AUT in January, and Anders Johnson, 29th at Vancouver in January.

Norwegian Headline Mar 12 - SKANDALE!
Norwegian media explodes at stupidity ... translated from NRK-TV  March 12
The Super Bowl of ski jumping in Norway is the Holmenkollen. Because that historic venue is being rebuilt for the 2011 World Championships, the Norwegian Ski Federation is holding their biggest annual event in Vikersund this weekend, on one of the world's largest ski jumps.

It was five years ago that the Norwegian Ski Federation invited a group of the world's best female jumpers as test jumpers for Continental Cup ski flying in Vikersund. FIS officials said "No way!" and Norwegian governnment said "They will jump!"   They jumped ... and that summer the FIS voted to create the Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) series. The same four women have been invited back once again ... plus one ... but this time it's for World Cup ski flying.

The five women invited to participate are Lindsey Van, World Champion, from the US Ski Team, Anette Sagen, five-time LCOC champion, from Norway, plus her teammates Line Jahr and Helena Olsson Smeby. They're joined by another American, Jessica Jerome, who placed 6th in the first-ever World Championships for women last month. he press in ski-crazy Norway has already making a big deal of it ... click to see article.  It's in Norwegian, but you'll get the idea!  Aftenposten photo, Van (L), Sagen (R).

THURSDAY MARCH 12:  In a stunning show of blatant misogyny and outright stupidity, FIS official Marko Mlakar from Slovenia called a halt to today's test jumping with Norway's Line Jahr on deck, one jumper on the bar ahead of her. One of the earlier jumpers had flown 220.5 meters, exceeding the hill record. They dropped the takeoff speeds, then stopped the round just prior to Jahr's turn.  Incredibly, according to the translated NRK story via link above, Mlakar was UNAWARE that there were women in the tower until they were about to jump! He's the TOP OFFICIAL for the event, and was ignorant of the names on the start list!   Norwegian media had certainly covered the fact of that women were to be test jumpers.  How do you say "clueless" in Slovenian?

Apparently, according to the story, Mlakar demanded speeds be reduced even further for the women! Male protectiveness, concerned for these delicate creatures? More likely protective of male ego and tradition, fearing they might FLY REALLY FAR, thus proving they belong.  Only eleven of thirty jumpers got into the air before Bozo shut down the show.  View the OFFICIAL TEST JUMPING SCORE SHEET to see who jumped, how far, where they stopped it, and WHY the women didn't jump!   Friday's start list has been published, and the women ARE included ... let's see how Mlakar and his cronies handle it on their second chance to get it right!

My initial information came from the article linked above (in the sub-header) as "Aftenposten article in Norwegian." I don't read Norwegian, so used Google's Language Tools to translate from Norwegian to English. The translation is crude, but reasonably understandable ... translated from Aftenposten.  Here's another ... translated from VG. We'll bring you more coverage as we find it, and we'll also provide more translation links.  Note that when the articles talk about "refusing" it means "were refused" ... big difference. If you have a daughter, sister, girlfriend, wife, or mother who ever wanted to, or might want to, do something that some man wants to prevent her from doing, you should care about this!!!

Two US men are entered in the ski flying competition, Nick Fairall, who placed 23rd and 24th in ski flying at Kulm AUT in January, and Anders Johnson, 29th at Vancouver in January.

In addition three Americans are entered in World Cup Nordic Combined season finale, which consists of two HS117/10K competitions. Billy Demong will lead the charge, having recently won a gold and bronze in the World Championships, and another gold and bronze last weekend in Finland. He'll be joined by Eric Camerota and Bryan Fletcher.

Sagen Clinches LCOC Title in Sapporo
Weather scrambles schedule, Sagen & Mohr win last two comps
  *  Official results:   Sat Mar 7 am     Sat Mar 7 pm     LCOC Final Standings
After weather forced postponements of some training sessions on Thursday and the entire Friday schedule, two competitions were held on Saturday March 7, with the makeup from Friday following the scheduled Saturday morning event. In the first session, Norway's Anette Sagen, the series leader, took the win ahead of Germany's Ulrike Graessler and Austria's Daniela Iraschko. World Champion Lindsey Van of the USA finished 5th. In the afternoon session, Germany's Jenna Mohr won, with Graessler and Iraschko 2nd & 3rd again. Van moved up to 4th, with Sagen dropping to 6th. So once again, Sagen wins the 2009 LCOC title, followed by Iraschko, Graessler, Van, & Mohr. Thanks to all LCOC competitors for another great season!

Demong: Gold & Bronze in Lahti March 6-7
Hot streak continues after US NC athlete gets gold & bronze at Worlds
  *  Official Results:   Friday Mar 6     Saturday Mar 7
The US Ski Team's Billy Demong claimed another World Cup Nordic Combined gold medal on Friday March 6 in Lahti FIN. World Cup overall leader Anssi Koivuranta of Finland was 2nd. Koivuranta had won the jump round, while Demong was 6th, so he started the 10K XC race with a 19 second deficit. He made it up and passed Koivuranta, winning by 7+ seconds.  On Saturday March 7, Demong took the bronze behind Norway's Magnus Moan and Koivuranta. He'd been fourth after the jump round, with Koivuranta leading and Moan way back in 20th. But Moan ran the fastest XC portion, edging Koivuranta, with Demong only 2.5 seconds back. Demong He remains third overall in NC season standings behind Koivuranta and Moan.

Junior Olympics Conclude in AK March 7
Friberg, Hendrickson, Smith, Wallace win individual competitions
  *  Individual Results Mar 5:    boys jump    girls jump    boys & girls NC
  *  Team Results Mar 6:           boys jump    girls jump    boys NC    girls NC
  *  Distance Elimination Mar 7:     (see below for details)
The individual jumping and Nordic Combined competitions were held on the 64 meter hill at the Karl Eid jump complex in Anchorage AK on Thurs March 5. Christian Friberg of the Central Division won the boys' title with flights of 64.5 and 64 meters, while Sarah Hendrickson of the Intermountain Division took top honors among girls by flying 64.5 and 64 meters. Tyler Smith of Intermountain and Nina Lussi of the Eastern Division were the Nordic Combined winners. Team competitions were held on Friday ... see links above for results.  In Saturday's finale, a distance elimination competition, Brian Wallace of Central took top honors, followed by Christian Friberg. Intermountain's Eric Lynch took 3rd, with AJ Brown of Central 4th.

Sagen Wins Twice in Zao, Van 5th & 3rd
Two days of Women's Continental Cup, Men's FIS Cup March 3-4
  *  Official Results:   women 3/3    women 3/4   ...   men 3/3    men 3/4
There were a pair of Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) and men's FIS (FC) cup competitions in Zao March 3-4, and they'll be in Sapporo March 6-7. World Champion Lindsey Van is the only US athlete entered. Most other teams have sent only one or two skiers, but the field of Japanese athletes is very large, in both men's and women's events. Joining Van are the three women who finished behind her at the recent FIS World Championships, Germany's Ulrike Graessler, Norway's Anette Sagen, and Austria's Daniela Iraschko.

On March 3, Sagen stood atop the podium, joined by Iraschko and Japan's Izumi Yamada; they were tied for second. Graessler was 4th, and Van 5th. On March 4, Sagen and Iraschko finished 1-2 again, with Van in 3rd. Graessler repeated in 4th, with Yamada 5th. Japan's Hiroaki Watanabe won the men's comp on 3/3, with Germany's Felix Brodauf 2nd and Japan's Shusaku Hosoyama 3rd. On 3/4, Hosoyama took the top spot, followed by Austria's Thomas Diethart and Brodauf. There were no US men competing.

FIS Nordic World Championships 2009
Lindsey Van (Gold),  Todd Lodwick (2 Gold),  Billy Demong (Gold, Bronze)
It was a most amazing week for the US Ski Team at the FIS Nordic World Championships in Liberec CZE. Until this week, the total US take in Nordic skiing had been a bronze for Anders Haugen in ski jumping at the 1924 Olympics (which nobody realized he'd won until a scoring error was discovered in the 1990s), a bronze by Bill Koch in XC at the 1976 Olympics and another at the 1982 Worlds, a gold by Johnny Spillane in NC at the 2003 Worlds, and a silver by Bill Demong in NC at the 2007 Worlds. Those five medals had had been the total US winnings in Olympic or World Championship competition over the last 85 years. Over an eight day span in February 2009, the US Ski Team brought home five more ... four golds and a bronze!

The first gold went to Lindsey Van, who became the first-ever World Champion in women's ski jumping. Then Todd Lodwick picked up a gold in the mass-start Nordic Combined event. He followed with another gold in the next event, and shared the podium with teammate Demong, who took the bronze. Finally, Demong won the final NC event of the championships to take home the fourth gold! Congratulations to all the US athletes who participated!

Lindsey Van - World Champion!
Jessica Jerome 6th ... Graessler 2nd, Sagen 3rd, Iraschko 4th
  *  Women's Ski Jumping Results:   Friday Feb 20
CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW GALLERY ON THE US SKI TEAM WEBSITE!
(Getty Images photo / USST)     US Ski Team article   ESPN   The Ski Channel
The US Ski Team's Lindsey Van, ranked in the top three in the world (Ladies' Continental Cup series) for each of the past five seasons, stood fourth after the first round of ski jumping in the first-ever women's event at the FIS World Championships. In the final round she launched a mighty flight to 97.5 meters, and made history as the very first Women's World Champion ... and the first American to win a gold medal in the sport of ski jumping at either a World Championship or Olympics!   US teammate Jessica Jerome placed 6th, with Alissa Johnson 20th, and 14 year old Sarah Hendrickson 29th.   We want to also recognize their coaches, Kjell Ivar Magnussen and Larry Stone.  

Two veterans, Germany's Ulrike Graessler and Norway's perennial Ladies' Continental Continental Cup champion Anette Sagen were 1-2 after the first round, with France's surprising thirteen year old Coline Mattel 3rd. Van leaped past all three to take the title, ahead of Graessler, Sagen, and another veteran, Austria's Daniela Iraschko. Arguably the four best female jumpers over the last five years, they topped the field, with the youngster, Mattel, finishing 5th. Thirty-six women from 13 countries competed. This is the same size hill the IOC refuses to let 'em jump on in Vancouver ... where Van holds the record of 105.5 meters!   Please read and sign the petition to include them in the 2010 Games!

Todd Lodwick - World Champion!
US veteran wins MS 10/100, Demong 5th, Spillane 24th, Camerota 25th
  *  Nordic Combined MS 10K/HS100 Results:   Friday Feb 20   USST article
The first Nordic Combined event of the FIS World Championships was the mass-start 10K race followed by jumping on the K90/HS100 jump. Todd Lodwick of the USA was in the lead after winning the 10K race by almost 5 seconds over Germany's Tino Edelmann ... with US skier Bill Demong six-tenths back in third. After the first round of jumping, Lodwick remained in the lead, with Demong 4th. When it was all over, Lodwick's final jump of 97.5 meters gave him the overall win and the World Championship in this event!   We wish to also recognize NC coach Dave Jarrett.

Lodwick, age 32, is a four-time Olympian who came back from two years in retirement to reach for the gold ... although he'd been highly ranked in the World Cup throughout his career, with six wins, he'd never won a medal at Worlds or the Olympics ... until today! Demong, a silver medalist in 2007, hung on for 5th; Johnny Spillane, who'd become the first American ever to win Nordic gold medal (gold in 2003), finished 24th, with teammate Eric Camerota 25th. More info will be available on the US Ski Team site, link at left, as well as the US Nordic Combined site, www.USNOCO.org.

Lodwick Gold #2, Demong Bronze!
Americans share Nordic Combined podium in Individual Normal Hill/10K
  *  Individual NH/10K Results:   Sunday Feb 22      USST article   USST blog
On Sunday, Feb 22, at the FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Liberec CZE, Todd Lodwick grabbed his second gold medal in two days, and teammate Billy Demong joined him on the podium with the bronze medal. The event was the Individual Normal Hill/10K event, run in the traditional "Gundersen" format, where one round of jumping is used to determine start intervals for a 10K cross-country race. As he did in Friday's mass-start event, Lodwick won the jumping round. He earned a 2/10 second advantage at the start, and had a tight battle for about half the race before pulling away from Norway's Jan Schmid. Meanwhile, Demong had started 12th, and raced to third behind Schmid and Lodwick.

With the pair of golds by Lodwick, a gold by Lindsey Van in women's ski jumping, and the bronze by Demong, the US leads in medals with 8 of 20 events completed!

Billy Demong - World Champion!
Win caps stunning week for US Ski Team ... 4 golds, 1 bronze
  *  Individual NH/10K Results:   Saturday Feb 28      USST article
In the final event for US athletes at the FIS Nordic Winter Games in Liberec CZE, Billy Demong finished almost 13 seconds ahead of Germany's Bjorn Kircheisen to put an exclamation point on the greatest week in the history of US Nordic skiing! He was 8th after the jumping round on the big hill, and stormed through the field to seal the victory. Todd Lodwick finished 10th, Johnny Spillane 19th, and Eric Camerota was 35th. Demong had been disqualified on a violation during the team event on Thursday, which kept the team out of contention. The team reported yesterday that they would simply keep focused on today ... and Demong turned that lemon into lemonade!  Congratulations to the US Ski Team! Lindsey Van won the first-ever women's world championship in ski jumping, and Todd Lodwick won the other two individual NC events, with Demong also earning a bronze. More on USST site via link above!

Lindsey Van on LCOC Podium Twice
Iraschko wins Feb 13-14 in Norway, Sagen & Van swap 2nd & 3rd
  *  Official Results:   Fri Feb 13   Sat Feb 14    LCOC standings
The women of the US Ski Team had two good days of Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) competition in Notodden NOR Feb 13-14. Lindsey Van led the Americans, taking 3rd on Friday and 2nd on Saturday. Daniela Iraschko of Austria was the winner both days, with Anette Sagen of Norway 2nd on Friday and 3rd on Saturday. Sagen and Van are first and second in overall standings, with Iraschko fourth. Among the other Americans, Alissa Johnson finished 4th on Saturday after 7th on Friday, Jessica Jerome was 10th both days, and Sarah Hendrickson was 15th Friday and 14th Saturday.

Bill Demong Wins NC in Klingenthal GER
Spillane 10th in World Cup Feb 15 ... US squad ready for FIS Worlds
  * Official results:   Sat Feb 14   Sun Feb 16   NC standings
The US Ski Team's Bill Demong won the final World Cup Nordic Combined event prior to the FIS World Championships. He was seventh in the jumping round, and had the second fastest time in the cross-country race, edging France's Jason Lamy Chappuis by just .6 seconds. Johnny Spillane finished 10th. Demong is fourth in overall World Cup standings, just 20 points behind Germany's Bjorn Kircheisen. Demong had finished 5th on Saturday, with teammate Eric Camerota 27th.

Lukas Mueller Doubles Up in Iron Mt COC
Thurnbichler second both days, but sets new hill record of 143.5 meters
  *  Official Results:   Sat Feb 14    Sun Feb 15    COC standings
Austria's Lukas Mueller won Saturday's Continental Cup (COC) event on the 120M hill in Iron Mountain MI. Mueller won the Jr World Championship two weeks ago in Slovakia. His teammate Stefan Thurnbichler placed second in Iron Mountain, with Norway's Jon Aaraas third. Johnny Lyons of St Paul was the top US finisher at 29th. Read story and watch 8-minute video from WFRV-TV, Green Bay.

On Sunday, Mueller and Thurnbichler took the top two spots again, with Slovenia's Anze Damjan 3rd. Mueller led after the first round with a flight of 142.5, and had a flight of 136.5 in the second round, to give him the top points total, despite Thurnbichler sailing to a new hill record of 143.5 meters (471 feet) on his final ride. Blake Hughes led the Americans in 28th. Following the COC competition, Norway's Haakon Helgesen launched one to 148 meters (485 feet) in an unofficial distance-only round. Watch video of a 132 meter practice ride by Iron Mountain's Zak Hammill ... a personal best!

Reiter Wins Twice in Brattleboro Feb 14-15
Geraghty-Moats and Friberg win in women's, Govekar wins 2 in men's junior
  *  Official Results:   both days   (courtesy of SkiJumpEast.com)
In Brattleboro VT, the first tournament on the new Harris Hill 90 meter jump was held on Sat Feb 14. Christian Reiter of Austria won the men's open class, followed by Slovenia's Jan Druzina and Austria's Martin Machreich. The women's winner was Tara Geraghty-Moats, with Karin Friberg 2nd and Nita Englund 3rd. The men's junior class winner was another Slovenian, Rok Govekar, with AJ Brown 2nd and Zach Daniels 3rd.

Reiter won again on Sunday, with Machreich 2nd and American Alex Miller 3rd. Friberg took the top spot on the women's podium, with Geraghty-Moats 2nd. Englund repeated in third. In the men's junior class, Govekar won again, with Will Schott 2nd and Brown 3rd.

Olli Wins Feb 14 WC in Oberstdorf
Finn #1 in first day of ski flying, Norwegians take 2nd and 3rd
  *  Official Results:   Saturday Feb 14    Sunday Feb 15 team    WC standings
In the individual World Cup ski flying competiton at Oberstdorf GER on Feb 14, Finland's Harri Olli blasted into the lead with a 225.5 meter flight in the first round, then came back with a 216 meter effort in the final round to take the top spot on the podium. He was followed by a pair of Norwegians, Anders Jacobsen and Johan Remen Evensen. Austria's teen sensation, Gregor Schlierenzauer, trying for his seventh straight World Cup win, could manage only 8th place. US athlete Nick Fairall qualified for the first round of 40, but didn't make the cut to the final round, finishing finished 38th. Fairall also competed with teammates Mike Glasder, Anders Johnson, and Chris Lamb in the team event on Sunday, where they finished 10th. They're members of the US Men's Ski Jumping Development Team, known as Project X.

Sarah Hendrickson Gets First LCOC Win!
Van 3rd, Ardovino 4th, Hughes 6th, Jerome 10th in Zakopane POL Feb 7
  *  Official Results:   Women     Men 1   Men 2       Ski Channel feature
On a warm day in Zakopane POL, fourteen year old US Ski Team athlete Sarah Hendrickson overcame slow and windy conditions to post her first Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) victory. She shared the podium with Germany's Juliane Seyfarth and US teammate Lindsey Van, who finished third. Avery Ardovino was 4th, Abby Hughes 6th, and Jessica Jerome 10th, giving the US 5 of the top 10 places. Karin Friberg made it into the top 20, finishing 19th, while Alissa Johnson was 29th and Nina Lussi 44th. Hendrickson missed the World Junior Championships earlier this week because of back spasms;  Hughes placed 8th in that event. The US women are from the US Ski Team and the VISA Women's Ski Jumping Team.  Read athlete bios on both websites!  Sunday's competition was cancelled due to deteriorating conditions.

The men's Saturday comp, which was to follow the women's event, was postponed due to deteriorating conditions. A single-round comp was held on Sunday morning as a makeup for Saturday, and it was followed by Sunday's scheduled two-round competion. You'll see from scoresheets that distances were far off those from training, as the women's had been on Saturday. It's unfortunate for the fans, as well as dangerous for the jumpers, when the inrun is slow and sticky, and when the landing is soft. Five American men were entered, and the best results today had Chris Lamb 33rd in the second event, and Mike Glasder 34th. They're members of Project X. Also representing the US were Andrew Bliss, Nick Fairall, and Anders Johnson. There were 90 jumpers trying to qualify for 50 spots. The next men's Continental Cup is on the 120 meter jump in Iron Mt MI Feb 13-15, the only international comp in the USA this year!

Both the VWSJT and Project X development teams are independent of the US Ski Team, and they need financial support to help ski jumping to grow and thrive in the US ... how you can help!.

Westby WI, Salisbury CT Feb 7-8
  *  Official Results:   Westby K106 Sat   Westby Sun     Salisbury K70
The final event in the midwest's 5 Hills series of ski jumping tournaments was held this Feb 7-8 in Westby WI. On Saturday, three Norwegians were on the podium in Class A ... Christoffer Nygaard, Erik Lycke Solheim, and Stig Soerensen Rud. Poland's Krystian Dlugopolski placed 4th, and the top US finisher was Johnny Lyons of St Paul in 5th. In Junior class, Lake Placid's Alex Madden took the top spot, followed by Nick Johnson of Minneapolis and Zak Hammill of Iron Mountain. On Sunday, Solheim was the winner, followed by Rud, Russia's Petr Chaadaev, Dlugopolski, and Lyons. The Junior Class winner was Brian Wallace of St Paul, with AJ Brown of Norge (Chicago) 2nd and Elliot Maraccini of Iron Mountain We've also posted a link (above) to results of the Eastern regional meet at Salisbury CT.

Hughes 8th, Glasder 14th at Jr Worlds
Ardovino 12th in women's, Johnson 16th in men's at Strbske Pleso
  *  Official Results:   Men's indiv   Men's team     Women's indiv
The ski jumping events at the Junior World Championships have been completed in Strbske Pleso, Slovakia. Abby Hughes was the top US finisher in the Feb 6 women's individual event, in a tie for 8th. Avery Ardovino was 12th, Nina Lussi 26th, and Karin Friberg 32nd. Germans took the top two spots; Magdalena Schnurr was the winner, followed by Anna Haefele. France's Coline Mattel was 3rd, and Canadian Nata De Leeuw just missed the podium by finishing 4th. There were 34 jumpers from 13 countries.

The men's individual competition was held Thurs Feb 5.  Mike Glasder had the best American finish, a 14th place tie. Anders Johnson was close behind in a tie for 16th. Nick Fairall missed the final round by a few points, finishing 36th, Chris Lamb was 61st. The winner was Lukas Mueller of Austria, followed by Maciej Kot of Poland and Ville Larinto of Finland, who set a hill record of 149 meters last week in World Cup action at Vancouver. The field consisted of 79 jumpers from 24 countries. The US placed 10th of 18 teams in the men's team comp Feb 6; there was no team event for women.

Dlugopolski Wins in Ishpeming Feb 4
  *  Official Results:   Page 1   Page 2     Five Hills standings
The midwest Five Hills series has turned into a duel between Polish and Russian ski jumpers. In Ishpeming on Feb 4, it was Poland's Krystian Dlugopolski winning ahead of Russia's Petr Chaadaev, with St Paul's Johnny Lyons 3rd once again. The 5 Hills series finishes up Feb 7-8 in Westby WI. These five tournaments are also part of the nationwide SuperTour series.

Nick Fairall #1 in Austrian FIS Cup!
Fairall wins Sat, 4th Sun, Johnson 5th both days Jan 31-Feb 1
  *  Official Results:   Sat Jan 31   Sun Feb 1     team updates
Two US jumpers, Nick Fairall and Anders Johnson, competed in Eisenerz AUT this past weekend as a tuneup for this week's FIS World Junior Championships in Strbske Pleso SVK. On Saturday, Nick became the first American to ever win an FIS Cup tournament, and Anders placed 5th. Also making the cut to the final round were Mike Glasder at 18th and Chris Lamb, 23rd. On Saturday, Nick just missed the podium in 4th, and Anders tied for 5th. These four guys, plus Andrew Bliss, are going into the World Junior Championships with a good chance to show great progress for the US Ski Jumping Development Team, known as Project X.

Eau Claire - Big Air, Big Crowd!
Russian & Polish jumpers swap Class A wins, but 11 year old steals show
  *  Official Results:   Fri Jan 30   Sat Jan 31   Trevor video 100M+
      (for Chicago and Minneapolis results, see Schedule & Results page, link at left)
The excitement at Eau Claire's 90 meter Silvermine jump began during Friday afternoon's training session. St Paul's Trevor Edlund, age 11, who'd been impressive last Sunday at Norge (Chicago) and on Wednesday in Minneapolis, astonished the crowd with a flight of about 105 meters, which is 345 feet! Later, in Friday evening's SuperTour competition, Russia's Petr Chaadaev set an official record of 95 meters (312 feet), but he finished second in points to Poland's Krystian Dlugopolski. On Saturday, the positions were reversed, with Chaadaev taking the win. Alex Miller of Steamboat Springs was 3rd, and Johnny Lyons of St Paul 4th both days in Class A.

In another unofficial event, a "long-standing" competition following Saturday's official tournament, Edlund showed his stuff once again by winning with a jump of 98 meters, (322 feet). Johnny Lyons, also of St Paul, was second with a jump of 95 meters (312 feet), tying the official record set by Chaadaev on Friday night. We want to point out that jumpers can start from higher gates, giving them more speed, in these long standing events, and they also had more speed in early training than in the official competition rounds.

There's a good article by long-time ski jumping journalist Ron Buckli in the Eau Claire Leader Telegram; it contains scores and distances for all classes in both days of official competition. There's an accompanying slideshow. WEAU-TV also has online coverage, click for story.

Minneapolis SuperTour - Night Event
Chaadaev edges Dlugopolski by one tenth of a point, Loomis wins Jr class
  *  Official Results:   Wed eve Jan 28     See this cool  tournament video!
Russian National Champion Petr Chaadaev edged Poland's Krystian Dlugopolski by a tenth of a point to capture the top podium spot in a night event at the Minneapolis Ski Club's annual winter tournament on January 28. Johnny Lyons of St Paul placed 3rd, followed by four guys named Alex! In 4th place was Alex Miller of Steamboat Springs, with Alex Madden of Lake Placid 5th, Alex Haupt of Park City 6th, and Russia's Alexi Gerasimov 7th. Chances are this has never happened before! Adam Loomis of Eau Claire won the junior class, followed by a pair of St Paul jumpers, Brian Wallace and Trevor Edlund. The women's winner was Emilee Anderson of Eau Claire. There's a link (just below headline) to a great video of this event by Tim Boelter.

Vancouver WC - Going the Distance!
Jan 24-25 ... Schlierenzauer wins twice, flies 149M to tie Larinto's record
  *  Official Results:   Sat Jan 24   Sun Jan 25   WC standings   Video!
Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer, who scored a solid first place Saturday, did it again on Sunday in dramatic fashion, and now has won five of the last 6 WC events. After Finland's Ville Larinto set a new hill record of 149 meters (490 feet) on his second jump Sunday, the next jumper, Schlierenzauer, tied that distance, and combined with a stronger first jump, he took the lead. The final jumper on Sunday, first-round leader Thomas Morgenstern, also of Austria, flew into 2nd place, bumping Larinto to 3rd. On the record setting jump by Larinto, he briefly dragged his hands, which resulted in deductions by the judges. US jumper Anders Johnson finished 29th on Sunday, scoring his first two World Cup points. He's a member of the US development team, Project X. On Saturday, Austrian Wolfgang Loitzl was 2nd, with another Finn, Matti Hautamaeki, 3rd. Johnson was 41st.  Read more in Project X team updates. 

Nick Fairall 15th in Slovenia COC Jan 24
  *  Official results:   Saturday Jan 24   Sunday Jan 25
US ski jumper Nick Fairall placed 15th on Sat Jan 24 in a Continental Cup (COC) tournament in Kranj SLO. He finished 46th on Sunday. His teammates finished as follows: Mike Glasder (50T, 55), Andrew Bliss (50T, 62) and Chris Lamb (55, 57). These athletes are part of Project X, a development team independent of the US Ski Team. Fairall recently placed 23rd & 24th in World Cup ski flying in Austria; he and Lamb have written articles about this experience;  read them in in  team updates.

Long Flights at Chicago's Norge Ski Club
Jan 24-25 ... big crowds brave cold to see men & women fly!
  *  Official results:   Saturday K5,10,22,47   Saturday K70   Sunday K70
The Norge Ski Club of Fox River Grove IL held their 104th annual tournament on January 24-25. On Saturday, junior skiers competed on the newly rebuilt smaller jumps. The sizes of these hills are 5M, 10M, 22M, and 40M. Also on Saturday, there was a Junior Olympic qualifying competition on the 70 meter hill. On Sunday, the 70M hill featured a USSA SuperTour event, kicking off the midwest's "Five Hills" series. The final event was the Robert Immens Memorial Long Standing Jump, which was won by Dan Englund of Iron Mt MI with a flight of 81 meters. For info on the Norge Ski Club, please visit www.norgeskiclub.com. Next 5 Hills event is Minneapolis Wed eve, Jan 28.

Lindsey Van Wins, Leads LCOC Series
Van wins Jan 18, Sagen 2nd, Jahr 3rd, Jerome 15th, Johnson 17th
Van 2nd Jan 17 behind Iraschko, Sagen 3rd, Johnson 5th, Jerome 19th
  * Official results:   Jan 17   Jan 18   LCOC standings
On Sat Jan 17 in Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) competition in Baiersbronn GER, Austria's Daniela Iraschko took her third consecutive win, with the US Ski Team's Lindsey Van 2nd and four-time LCOC champion, Norway's Anette Sagen 3rd. The US Ski Team's Alissa Johnson placed 5th, with teammate Jessica Jerome 19th.

Van took the top podium spot on Sunday Jan 18, ahead of Norwegians Sagen and Line Jahr. Germany's Ulrike Graessler, leader going into the weekend, finished 9th twice. This gave Van the opening she needed ... her consistency has paid off, and today's win gave her 482 total points to 463 for Graessler. In the last four competitions, Van has been 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st.  Her recovery from knee surgery, following an injury last year, appears to be complete!

Bill Demong 1st & 3rd in Vancouver NC
Lodwick 10th & 12th, Spillane 22nd & 11th in World Cup Jan 16-17
  * Official results:   Fri Jan 16   Sat Jan 17   NC standings
The US Ski Team's Bill Demong placed 2nd in the jumping portion of the World Cup Nordic Combined at Whistler Olympic Park on Fri Jan 16, spotting series leader Anssi Koivuranta of Finland 29 seconds at the start of the 10K cross country race. Demong blistered the course, and finished 18.4 seconds ahead of Koivuranta. Other US finishers on Friday included Todd Lodwick 10th, Johnny Spillane 22nd, and Brett Camerota 31st.   On Sat Jan 17, Koivuranta took the win, just 0.4 sec ahead of Kircheisen, who edged Demong by 0.1 sec ... just a half-second separated the top three places. Spillane finished 11th on Saturday, with Lodwick 12th, and Camerota improving to 24th. Links to results and standings above.

Fairall 11th in Bischofshofen COC Jan 17
Follows up impressive World Cup debut with another solid performance
  * Official results:   Sat Jan 17   Sun Jan 18   COC standings
After finishing 23rd and 24th in World Cup ski flying last weekend, young American jumper Nick Fairall placed 11th on Sat Jan 17 in a strong Continental Cup field in Bischofshofen AUT. This level of competition is second only to World Cup; the winner was Germany's Christian Ulmer, with Austria's Lukas Mueller 2nd and Norway's Kenneth Gangnes 3rd. On Sunday, none of the Americans made the final round.   The men's ski jumping development team needs your continuing financial support ... learn how you can help!

Nick Fairall 23rd & 24th in Ski Flying!
Schlierenzauer wins twice, Ammann 2nd & 3rd in Kulm Jan 10-11
  * Official results:   Sat Jan 10   Sun Jan 11   WC standings
  * Universal Sports video (watch entire event, English):   Saturday
On the second day of ski flying in Kulm (Bad Mitterndorf) AUT, Gregor Schlierenzauer won again in front of his home crowd, setting a hill record of 215.5 meters in the process (watch video). Finland's Harri Olli, who'd had his first podium finish ten days ago, placed second, and series points leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland was 3rd. On Saturday, Schlierenzauer, second overall in series points, was the winner, edging Ammann, with Martin Koch of Germany 3rd. 

For Americans, the real highlight was the consistency of Nick Fairall, who finished 24th Sunday (watch video) after placing 23rd Saturday... and the performance of Anders Johnson, who cracked into the field of 40 in Friday's qualifying. Although he didn't make the final round of 30 either day, he finished 31st on Sunday.  These two young athletes are part of an independent US development team known as Project X.  It's clear that the investment in this young team is paying off in progress, but they need your financial support ... learn how you can help!  Fairall's performance at Kulm earned enough points to put the US in 12th place among the 22 nations competing in the World Cup series.

Lindsey Van 3rd in Schonach LCOC
Iraschko wins twice; Van 4th & 3rd, Johnson 9th & 8th on Jan 10-11
  * Official results:   Sat Jan 10   Sun Jan 11   LCOC standings   "Fly Girls"
Austria's Daniela Iraschko stood atop the podium twice as the Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) series resumed on Jan 10-11 in Schonach GER. Germany's Ulrike Graessler placed second both days. The US Ski Team's Lindsey Van finished 3rd on Sunday after placing 4th on Saturday behind Germany's Magdalena Schnurr. American Alissa Johnson finished 9th Saturday and 8th Sunday, and the third American, Jessica Jerome, was 13th and 14th. Series leader Anna Haefele of Germany was 5th Saturday, but dropped to 28th on Sunday. Four-time COC champion Anette Sagen of Norway was 12th and 9th. Women's Ski Jumping USA's development program needs your continuing support ... learn how you can invest in their future!

Mike Glasder 17th Twice in FIS Cup
Bliss, Alexander, Hughes make final round in Harrachov CZE Jan 10-11
  * Official results:   Sat Jan 10     Sun Jan 11     team updates
This has been a great weekend for consistency among American ski jumpers, and it carried over to the FIS Cup in Harrachov CZE, where Michael Glasder, in only his second week of international competition, Michael Glasder finished 17th both days. Among his teammates, Nick Alexander finished 23rd and 21st, Andrew Bliss 28th both days, and Blake Hughes was 30th and 32nd. These young athletes are members of an independent development team known as Project X. Also jumping, but not making the final round, were Peter Frenette 39th & 41st, Brian Wallace 58th & 62nd, and Kris Kowalczyk 63rd & 64th. The young athletes of Project X are making progress, but they need your financial support ... learn how you can help!

Hendrickson x3, Glasder x2 in Lake Placid
Friberg 2nd twice in women's class, Bliss gets win, two 2nds in men's
  * Official results (jumping):   Mon Dec 29   Wed Dec 31-1   Wed Dec 31-2
    (Nordic Combined results at bottom of applicable scoresheets)
Tiny Sarah Hendrickson, at age fourteen the youngest member of the US Ski Team's jumping squad, flew 96 and 95 meters, scoring 247.5 points, to win the women's class in Lake Placid on Monday Dec 29; she followed up that performance by winning again TWICE on Dec 31; the previous day's competition had been postponed by weather, which is why the action was doubled up on the 31st. Karin Friberg placed 2nd on Monday and also in the final competition on Wednesday, with Nina Lussi taking 2nd in Wednesday's first event.

In men's competition on Monday, Mike Glasder blasted a 102.5 meter flight in the second round, following up a 99 meter effort in the first round, scoring a total of 268.5 points. Andrew Bliss was only three points behind on flights of 99 and 99.5 meters. In the postponed competition, Glasder again finished ahead of Bliss, this time with distances of 101 and 100.5 meters and 271 points, compared to 96.5 and 99 meters, 259.5 points for Bliss. In the final event on Wednesday, Bliss finally topped Glasder on jumps of 99 and 103.5 meters, for 276 points. Glasder had distances of 95.5 and 104 meters, scoring 266.5 points. Thanks to Don West of www.skijumpeast.com for posting each day's results so quickly.

Vtic, Haefele Winners in Vancouver LCOC
  * Official results:   Wed 12/17    Thurs 12/18    LCOC standings
Whistler Olympic Park, site of the 2010 Olympics, hosted two days of Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) action on Dec 17-18. On Thursday, the competition was held to a single round. Four athletes exceeded 100 meters, with Germany's Ulrike Graessler flying 105M, just a half-meter short of the hill record of 105.5 set last year by Lindsey Van of the US. But it was Germany's Anna Haefele, winner of both events last week in Park City, who took the win with a flight of 104.5M, scoring 129.5 total points (including judge scores). Norway's Anette Sagen placed second with a distance of 103.5M (126.5 points), and Graessler finished third with 105M (scoring 125.5 points). Canada's Nata De Leeuw just missed the podium, in fourth with a distance of 103.0M (124.5 points). Lindsey Van once again led the US Ski Team, finishing 6th, with Jessica Jerome, Alissa Johnson, and fourteen year old Sarah Hendrickson 16th, 17th, and 18th, respectively. Abby Hughes tied for 19th, Avery Ardovino was 26th, and Karin Friberg finished 27th. Technical note ... takeoff speeds today were in the 88KmH range.

On Wednesday, Slovenia's Maja Vtic soared 99.5 meters in the first round, then came back with 102.0 on her second jump to take first place. Graessler flew 100.0 and 100.5 to finish 2nd, and four-time series champion Sagen was 3rd with flights of 100.5 and 99.5. De Leeuw took 4th place, with Haefele finishing 5th. Three Americans placed in the top ten, led by Johnson in 6th, with Van 8th, and Jerome 9th. Hendrickson finished 15th, Hughes 21st, Ardovino 22nd, and Friberg 26th.   Remember ... American ski jumping needs your financial support ... scroll down for info on how you can help!

Anna Haefele Wins Twice in Park City
Lindsey Van 2nd & 6th in LCOC, ranks 2nd overall ... Vancouver next
  * Official results Dec 12:   afternoon   evening   LCOC standings
The Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) season began Dec 12 in Park City UT. Because of an incoming storm, both scheduled competitions were held Friday. In the afternoon event, Germany's Anna Haefele took first place, with Lindsey Van of the US Ski Team second, and Austria's Jacque Siefriedsberger third. Just missing the podium was four-time champion Anette Sagen of Norway. Other US finishers were Alissa Johnson 6th, Jessica Jerome 14th, fourteen-year-old Sarah Hendrickson tied for 16th, Abby Hughes 22nd, Avery Ardovino 23rd, Tara Geraghty-Moats 27th, Nita Englund 29th, Nina Lussi 30th, Karin Friberg 31st, Danielle Lussi 33rd, and Elisabeth Anderson 34th. Among five Canadians, Nata De Leeuw was seventh, and Atsuko Tanaka just missed the top ten with a tie for 11th.

Haefele came back to capture the top spot on the evening podium, with Canada's Nata De Leeuw taking second, and Haefele's German teammate, Ulrike Graessler third, and Sagen fourth again. Van continued to lead the Americans, finishing 6th, with Jerome 11th, Hendrickson in a three-way tie for 13th, Johnson 16th, Hughes 23rd, Englund 25th, Ardovino 26th, Geraghty-Moats 27th, Friberg 30th, N Lussi 31st, Anderson 33rd, and D Lussi 34th. Tanaka scored another top ten finish for Canada, finishing in a tie for 9th.

US Ski Jumping Needs Your Help!     (return to top)
Video from 2008 US Nationals ... action and interviews with US men & women
Here's a quick rundown on how ski jumping is supported in the USA ... this is a shameless pitch for financial support from individual donors and/or potential sponsors, and there are links at the bottom of this article to help you reach a pair of websites where you can make donations to support the development of our dedicated and motivated young athletes, both men and women.

Let's start with some background. There are three separate organizations involved in funding ski jumping in America; the US Ski Team, Women's Ski Jumping USA, and the men's development program, known as Project X. This isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

The US Ski Team has for years supported only a handful of top athletes, primarily in fielding an Olympic team, and a bare-bones presence in World Cup, which in recent years consisted of only Alan Alborn on a regular basis, and Clint Jones in selected events. After the 2006 Olympics, Al and Clint retired. In 2007, the USST named six women to the ski jumping team; this remains the situation; there is no US Ski Team funding for development programs, and there hasn't been for years. We do not suggest donating through USSA or the US Ski Team, because they WILL NOT PERMIT YOU to designate your contribution specifically for ski jumping!

Over the past ten years or so, a well-organized group based in Park City and known as Women's Ski Jumping USA  (WSJUSA)  has raised their own funds for the coaching and travel of a growing number of young female athletes. When FIS created the international Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) series in 2005, the US women quickly established themselves among the best in the world. In 2007, the US Ski Team named the top six women as the US Ski Jumping Team; their coach is Kjell Ivar Magnussen, formerly coach of the Norwegian women's team. The development program for young athletes is NOT affiliated with, nor funded by, the US Ski Team. The WSJUSA foundation remains as the funding and organizational entity for female ski jumpers in the USA. Because VISA is still a primary sponsor, the development team is known as the VISA Women's Ski Jumping Team (VWSJT). Its director is former US star and pioneer female jumper Karla Keck. The president of WSJUSA is Deedee Corradini, former mayor of Salt Lake City, who was involved in the planning for the 2002 Olympics. The VISA sponsorship does NOT cover all expenses, therefore WSJUSA & VWSJT continue to seek individual donors and corporate sponsors.

A new men's development team, named Project X, was organized for the 2008 season, also independent of, and not funded by, the US Ski Team, although we were told they received some start-up money from USST. In their first year, the group raised sufficient funds to hire Jochen Danneberg, a 1976 Olympic silver medalist who formerly coached the German, Swiss, and Korean men's teams. A group of athletes was selected, and they are competing regularly in the men's Continental Cup series as well as some FIS Cup events, and posting some encouraging results. Jochen has returned for the 2009 season, and the group has an ambitious season-long competition schedule. Among the people involved in this effort are Alan Johnson and Mike Holland. Alan is a former US jumping coach, and the father of one of our top male jumpers, 2006 Olympian Anders Johnson, and also one of our best female jumpers, Alissa Johnson, who got her first LCOC win this summer. Mike is a former US Olympian and the only American to ever hold the world distance record. This independent group also seeks individual donors and corporate sponsors.

Please consider financially supporting US ski jumping. We wish that the USSA and US Ski Team would choose to fund a development program, but they don't, they haven't, and they're not likely to. We would like to think the day will come when our men's and women's development programs will share a single funding source, but that's not the case today. You may choose to support our men ... or our women ... or you could split your support between them.  Your contribution to either development team (or both) is, of course, TAX DEDUCTIBLE!  Here are the links to donation info on both groups' websites.

• Donate to WSJUSA    (women's development program)
• Donate to Project X   (men's development program)

New and Improved for 2009
Facility upgrades completed at multiple US jumping venues
The re-opening of the 90 meter Harris Hill in Brattleboro VT will be one of this season's highlights on the US ski jumping scene. Completely rebuilt junior jumps at Fox River Grove IL (Norge Ski Club) and Eau Claire WI (Flying Eagles complex at Mount Washington) will be ready for use this winter, and equipped for year-round use with plastic surfaces. In addition, the 40M jump in Ishpeming MI and the 52M jump in Wisconsin Rapids WI have been given plastic surfaces, so they're now ready for summer use as well. We're awaiting info about facility upgrades in the west, and will bring you more info as we receive it. The schedule for the upcoming 2009 winter season is now posted on our Schedule & Results page, link at left.

US National Championships - Lake Placid
*** Saturday Oct 11:  National Jumping results
*** Saturday Oct 11:  National N/C results
*** Sunday   Oct 12:  SuperTour results
The US National Ski Jumping Championships were held on Saturday Oct 11 in conjunction with Lake Placid's annual Flaming Leaves Festival. With eleven women and fifty men from all regions of the US and Canada, it was a strong field, and it was a good competition. Thanks to Don West, webmaster of www.skijumpeast.com, for posting all these results so quickly!

Highlights from National Championship Ski Jumping Sat Oct 11:
It was the thirteenth national championship for Lindsey Van of the US Ski Team.  Lindsey and Jessica Jerome, who placed 2nd, are both coming back from knee surgery ... Jessica missed all of last season, and Lindsey missed the last half. Alissa Johnson, who placed 3rd, recently won her first LCOC (Ladies' Continental Cup) event. Alissa's younger brother, Anders Johnson, won the men's title, followed by a pair of outstanding Nordic Combined athletes, Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong; both are former Olympians. Spillane won the only gold medal ever for the US in a World Championship (2003 Nordic Combined), and Demong won silver in the same event in the 2007 World Championships. In fourth place among the men was Nick Fairall, who has been jumping well in recent men's Continental Cup events. Todd Lodwick, four-time Olympian coming back a year after retiring, placed fifth. The longest flight of the event was 102 meters by Fairall; the longest among the women was 96 meters, by both Van and Jerome.

Highlights from National Championship Nordic Combined Sat Oct 11:
Former Olympian and World Champion Johnny Spillane won his first US Championship on Saturday in Lake Placid, less than a second ahead of Billy Demong. Multi-time US Champion Todd Lodwick placed 3rd, less than 40 seconds off the pace, after a year in retirement; both Demong and Lodwick are also former Olympians. Their event consisted of a single jump on the 90 meter hill, and eight laps (on roller skis) of a 1.68Km loop. A women's championshop event was held, with Jessica Jerome taking the win by less than one second over Abby Hughes, with Avery Ardovino 3rd just 8 seconds back.

Highlights from the NYSEF SuperTour Sunday Oct 12:
Following up on their victories in the National Ski Jumping Championships, Lindsey Van won the women's class and Anders Johnson took top honors in the men's Open class. In addition, there was a Junior class on Sunday, and the winner was Yukon De Leeuw of Canada. Following Van in the women's class were Jessica Jerome and Avery Ardovino. In the men's Open, Eric Camerota was 2nd and Nick Alexander 3rd. Canada's Matthew Rowley finished 2nd in Junior, followed by Brian Wallace.  Johnson had the longest flight among the men on Sunday at 102 meters, and Van topped the women at 98.5.

US Men's Development Team Report
"Project X" is independent of US Ski Team ... Team Updates
For many years, the US Ski team has funded one or two top athletes to compete in World Cup and the European Summer Grand Prix. With the retirement last year of our two top jumpers, Alan Alborn and Clint Jones, the US Ski Team dropped the men's program entirely. It had been years since they'd funded any development program for younger jumpers. Before the start of last season, they named six women who had been developed through the Women's Ski Jumping USA organization in Park City, which was also INDEPENDENT of the US Ski Team. The women's program had achieved strong results in the Ladies' Continental Cup, and had attracted VISA sponsorship. We applaud the formation of this INDEPENDENT MEN'S PROGRAM, which has become known as "Project X," and we hope they'll have similar success in developing young athletes! Their greatest need now, just as it has been for the women's development program, is for FUNDING. We encourage individuals and companies to DIRECTLY support INDEPENDENT development programs. This will result in their dollars supporting ONLY ski jumping!

Year-End Homepage Access ... All Years
See stories & coverage from the end of 2008 and earlier seasons
Each spring, we archive our homepage with end-of-year stories. You can view these pages via the links below.

• 2008 - IOC's Exclusion of Women Dominates 2008 News
• 2007 - Malysz #1 in WC, Van & Demong US Champions
• 2006 - US Women #1 Team, Janda Wins World Cup
• 2005 - Romoeren Flies 239M at Planica
• 2004 - Ahonen World Champ, Women Fly in Norway
• 2003 - Hautamaeki 231M, Spillane Wins First US Gold
• 2002 - Kids Learning to Jump, Alborn Flies 221.5M

Our Visitor Traffic Continues To Grow
Olympics, Women's Continental Cup drew 100K+ visitors
During the winter 2005-2006 season, we set all-time visitor records. We had 22K+ visitors in January, 42K+ visitors for February, and 20K+ in March. We drew just about 100K for the winter 2006 competition season from December through March, at about 5 minutes per visit. We averaged well over 300 per day throughout the summer, up significantly over last year, with much of the increase driven by the Olympics.

With the beginning of the 2006-07 season, our traffic increased as expected in December 2006 to 450 visitors per day, and in January 2007 it rose to 600 per day. We averaged 555 per day in February, just under 500 per day in March, 350 per day in April, just over 300 per day during the summer months. Traffic climbed steadily in the fall. We averaged about 600 per day from Christmas 2007 through mid-February 2008. Through the spring and summer we drew about 250 visitors per day. We've hosted well over three quarters of a million visitors since going online in 2001. Average time per visit through the years has consistently been about five minutes, but a trend toward longer visit times has been continuing through the fall of 2008, and in mid-February of 2009, we're drawing about 500 visitors per day. They stay on the site over eleven minutes per visit (average). This interest isn't limited only to this website ... there are signs of a resurgence of interest in the SPORT of ski jumping with an American audience ... this site just happens to be easy to find. Thank you for your interest in our sport and for visiting this website!


Fighting Gravity - trailer
Preview of upcoming video on women's ski jumping


            (click to return to top of page)


FIS Video From World Cup
New feature from FIS ... will be updated weekly!  We'll keep it here at the bottom of our homepage, so there won't be a problem of re-positioning it each week. We've provided a link in the group of FIS links on the upper left part of this page, and a "return to top" link above. We may also add links in the relevant stories as the content changes on the FIS server! Click arrow to begin!

Click to visit website
(formerly WCSN)

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NBC Sports
SKI JUMPING
*  Van interview
NORDIC COMBINED
*  Demong interview

US Events
on 60M and larger hills ...
See Regional Clubs page
for event details!

FEBRUARY
* 28 Minneapolis
MARCH
* 01 Minneapolis
* 04-07 Anchorage AK
* 13-15 Steamboat CO

Boston Globe Pix!
Celebrating 30 years of World Cup Ski Jumping
30 photos - click here

Flashback!
Remember our "Behind the News" page? It ran during our 2002 and 2003 seasons. We've updated it a bit, but left it in the original layout. Click here to read a bit about big ski jumps, female jumpers, questions jumpers get asked, a cool mobile wind tunnel, and famous folks who were once ski jumpers!

Beginner Video
How do kids begin to learn the sport of ski jumping? Here's a one-minute video of youngsters learning on the little 10 meter jump at the St Paul Ski Club!