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ski jumping
in the
eastern u.s.a.
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MAINTAINED BY THE
EASTERN SKI JUMPING & NORDIC COMBINED FOUNDATION, INC.
(A CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, ALL DONATIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE AS ALLOWED BY LAW)
Current Ski Jumping Clubs in the
Eastern USA
(click on town name for directions to the jump site)
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid, New York was the host village for the
Olympic Winter Games in
1932 and again in 1980. Many world class winter sports facilities remain as a legacy of the Games, including the MacKenzie/Intervale Ski Jump Complex located on the east edge
of the village. World class jumps, full time professional hill maintenance,
and excellent organization and support have made the little Olympic village
the Mecca of Ski Jumping in the east.
The Olympic facilities are administered
by the Olympic
Regional Development Authority (ORDA) of the State of New York.
The Olympic Ski Jump towers are visible from many places in the village
of Lake Placid. They are open for visitors almost all year, at a small
charge. Visitors enter across from the Horse Show Grounds and drive to the
bottom. See WebCam.
The Lake Placid Ski Club
maintains recreation and competition programs
for children and adults in both nordic (jumping and cross country) and
alpine skiing.
Contact: Carol Hoffman
Mail: LPSC, P.O. Box 691, Lake Placid, NY 12946
Phone: (518)-524-6914
In addition, the New York Ski Education Foundation
(NYSEF)
offers elite training oportunities in Lake Placid for serious nordic, alpine, and
freestyle skiers.
Contact: Casey Colby
Mail: 52 Ski Jump Lane, Lake Placid NY, 12946
Phone: (518)-523-1900
Brattleboro, Vermont
The Brattleboro Outing Club was founded in 1922 and
immediately constructed a
large ski jump on Cedar street in the city of Brattleboro in extreme southeastern Vermont.
Now named
Harris Hill after Outing Club founder Fred Harris, this jump has a distance
record of over 300 feet and has been the
site of many National Championship and Olympic Trial events.
To find Harris Hill, leave the Interstate on Exit 2, go east toward town
on High Street. Just before the street starts to go down hill, find
Cedar Street (on your left only!). Less than a half mile on Cedar Street,
you will see the landing of the jump on your left, across a large open field.
The trestle at the top of Harris Hill became more and more rickety until the facility was finally closed for repair for three years the 2006-2008. After a massive rebuild, including grading, lengthening and widening the landing, and construction of a new steel trestle, the old jump in its newest incarnation opened in February 2009 with a tremendously successful two day competition.
The organizers of the annual Harris Hill competition have split off from the Brattleboro Outing Club.
For information on Harris Hill Events, see the
Harris Hill web site
or contact:
Kate McGinn
Mail: 238 Western Avenue, Brattleboro, VT 05301
Phone: (802)-257-0866,
or
Patricia Howell
Mail: 27 Pound Road, Newfane, VT 05345
Phone: (802)-365-4106,
The Brattleboro Outing Club no longer maintains Harris Hill or conducts the annual Fred Harris tournament. However, the Outing Club maintains winter programs in nordic and alpine
skiing and summer programs in tennis, canoe and kayak paddling. Long time jumper Phil Dunham has stepped down as BOC president but remains on the Board of Directors (pmdunham@sover.net, (802) 254-5220, PO Box 335, Brattleboro, VT 05302)
and Olympian Dana Zelankas has resumed coaching junior jumpers (dczel@hotmail.com).
Salisbury, Connecticut
Salisbury CT is in the extreme northwest corner of
Connecticut, a stone's throw
from the New York and the Massachusetts borders. Salisbury Winter Sports
Association has a long tradition in nordic skiing going back to a group of Norwegian
immigrants including four Satre brothers, Birger Torrison and Ole Hegge.
In February 2001, SWSA celebrated its 75th anniversary with a grand reunion of past competitors.
Satre Hill, the
club's K-70 meter jump, is located with three smaller jumps in a sunny bowl just on the edge
of the village.
To find Satre Hill, go down Main Street to the Town Hall, turn east between
two churches. More or less straight leads you to an unlikely looking dirt
road past an auto repair shop. With a fence line on your left, follow the dirt
road to the end (about 200 yards), curve left on a winding gravel drive, across a
little bridge, 100 yards more and you will see the jump through a grove of huge white
pines.
Salisbury is in Connecticut's heaviest snow area and SWSA maintains
programs in both ski jumping and cross country skiing.
Contact: Ken Barker
Mail: 77 Lincoln City Rd., Salisbury, CT 06068-1711
Phone: (860)-435-8088
Hanover, New Hampshire
Ford Sayre Ski Club maintains K-10, K-18 and K-32 meter jumps. It serves the
area of Hanover NH and
Norwich VT and maintains a close relationship with Dartmouth
College. The famous Dartmouth ski jump was
torn down in 1993, but the Ford Sayre
club maintains a junior jumping facility at Oak Hill, just north of Hanover.
From the Hanover green, take Route 10 North about one and a half miles
north. With the golf course on your left, find Reservoir Road on the right
(just before a gas station). Go up Reservoir Road and follow the signs to
Storrs Pond.
In the last two decades, Ford Sayre has produced a steady stream of world class ski jumpers.
Contact: Tom Dodds
Mail: 5 Parkway, Hanover, NH 03755
Phone: (603)-643-9418
Lebanon, New Hampshire
'95 U.S. Masters Championships, LOC 50 meter jump.
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The Lebanon Outing Club maintains three jumps (K-10, K-25, K-50) and a
community alpine ski slope at Storrs Hill on the east side of the river in
Lebanon NH. The LOC has a storied history in eastern ski jumping and has
been one of the most active jumping clubs in the 1990's.
There are several ways to get to the jumps and the signs to Storrs Hill
are tiny. One way is to find the old Town Green, then find Church Street (next
to a big white church, naturally). Follow narrow Church Street to a
nasty uphill intersection. Carefully turn right and find the
ski area parking lot just across the bridge.
Contact: Lebanon Outing Club, Storrs Hill, PO Box 295,
Spring Street, Lebanon, NH 03766.
Coach: Jon Farnham
(home phone) (802)-387-5411.
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Newport, New Hampshire
The Mt. Sunapee Area Ski Club maintains K-10, K-25, K-32 meter jumps behind the Newport High
School at the north end of Newport, NH.
Contact: Ron Beaudet
Mail: 31 Green Rd, Newport, NH 03773
Phone: (603)-863-4593
Andover, New Hampshire
The Andover Outing Club is closely connected with Proctor
Academy and uses Proctor's Blackwater facilities.
Contact: Tim Norris
Mail address: 313 Emery Road, Andover, NH, 03216-4120
Phone: (603)-735-5369
New Hampshire high schools with ski jumping programs:
A generation ago, high school ski jumping covered northern New England but now only New Hampshire high schools maintain the tradition. Here are the high schools presently fielding teams in high school ski jumping competition:
New England prep schools with ski jumping programs:
Proctor Academy
attn. Tim Norris
PO Box 500,
Andover, NH 03216
(603) 735-5369
www.proctoracademy.org
Jumping Coach – Tim Norris
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Holderness School
attn. Mr. Douglas Kendall
RR3 Box 18
Plymouth, NH 03264
(603) 536-1257
www.holderness.org
Jumping Coach -
Doug Kendall
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Vermont Academy
Jon Farnham has now taken over the
VA coaches job
(802)-387-5411
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Gould Academy
has not had a ski jumping team for a few years now,
but we hope that they may return soon.
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Proctor Academy and the Andover Outing Club have continued to make updates and improvements to
the Proctor jumping compex at Blackwater. They finished constructing a very modern 38 meter hill just a few
years ago to go with their 10 and 18 meter jumps and recently they installed a lift to serve the new hill.
In 2002, Vermont Academy made a big committment to resume the first class support of ski jumping for which V.A. is well known by building
three new jumps (10, 20 and 35 meter) with lights, snowmaking and grooming, and a lift. V.A. also hired a full time Nordic Skiing coach.
(and some legendary jump sites no longer in use)
Gunstock Ski Area is located in Gilford NH Just
southeast of
Laconia on Route 11. In addition to the alpine slopes, it has groomed cross
country trails
and a complex of four very nice jumping hills (K-86, 48, 30, 18). However at present none of the jumps are available for use. The 48 meter jump is caugth in the middle of a rebuild and the other three are in need of repairs and will be closed until further notice. The jumps are located
west of
the main lodge and alpine slopes. Take the main entrance road and turn
right after the Cross Country Office
(a low building on your right, before
you see the main lodge). Follow down through the trees, about 300 yards, until you see the
big jump on your left.
The Gunstock Nordic Association (GNA) is the ski club responsible for organizing
jumping and cross country at this wonderful facility.
Contact club president Andy Howe at PO Box 7493, Gilford, NH 03247,
(603) 293-7070 (h)
At this time GNA has coaching available for cross-country skiing only. The coaches are Nina Gavrylyuk and Igor Badamshin from Russia.
The Chisholm Ski Club
in Rumford ME harkens back to the days
when Scandinavian loggers brought their beloved ski sport to the American north woods.
The Black Mountain ski area outside of town has alpine and cross country trails
and once maintained a complete range of jumps up to K-60 (see 1991 picture at right).
Recently, the small jumps
have been removed, and the remaining big hill has been neglected.
Contact: Chisholm Ski Club President Joe Sassi, 211 Porter Ave., Rumford, Maine 04276
Phone: (207) 364-7279
Web Page: http://www.chisholmskiclub.org/
Recently reawakened in the far north of Maine is the Northern Skiers Club.
Contact Carl Soderberg
Mail: 460 York Street, Caribou, ME, 04736
Phone: (207)-498-6300
The huge ski slide north of Berlin NH (right) was for decades the tallest artificial ski
jump tower in North America, and hosted many top notch events. The Nansen Ski
Club in Berlin remains active in cross country skiing but has not held a ski jumping
competition or maintained a junior jumping program for several years. The facility has
fallen
into disrepair, but one hears whispers about reopening this famous jump.
See summer 1999 photo album.
More ski jumping competitions have been held at Bear Mountain, NY than at
any other site in North America. Overlooking the Hudson River just south of West Point,
this jump has been closed for several years, in spite of some enthusiastic efforts to light the
fires again. The jump is visible behind the Bear Mt. Inn in Bear Mt. Interstate Park.
Other, smaller jumps with long traditions were closed in recent memory in Putney VT,
Lyndonville VT, and Andover ME, and the best of all the old small hills, at
Kimball Union Academy in Meriden NH
In the hayday of college ski jumping, facilities were maintained by Dartmouth College,
Middlebury College, St. Lawrence University, Williams College, and New England College.
These are all gone now, but some evidence remains. The best of all the college hills was at the
Middlebury Snow Bowl, where the landing slope still dominates the view from the ski lodge. Jumps of
over 200 feet (61 meters) were possible, making the Middlebury jump an important stepping stone
between the numerous 50 meter (160 foot) jumps and the international caliber 90 meter (300 foot)
hills. You can also visit the memorial erected on the site of the
famous Dartmouth College "Big Hill",
on the golf course on the north side of Hanover. A gravel drive bisects the golf
course, swings to the right. Walk down this drive, five minutes, which ends at the
old jump site. The old steel tower was torn down in the spring of
1993 but the Great Blizzard of '93 provided snow for one last fling. It was
a fitting way to say farewell to a grand old ski jump.
Read about it.
Here is a big list of links to other ski jumping web sites.
Have fun, but don't stay long!
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