Brief News Items -- 2011-12
 An archive of items that have appeared at the
top of the WhatsNew page of SkiJumpEast.com

See 2010-11 News Items

CONTENTS

 

 
Locals Sweep Lake Placid Flaming Leaves Weekend
Peter Frenette of Saranac Lake won the Open division of the Flaming Leaves ski jumping competition both Saturday and Sunday, and Miles Lussi of Lake Placid did the same in the Junior Class. See complete .pdf results for  Saturday  or for  Sunday.
 

Ansten Samuelstuen (1929-2012)      
Olympian and National Champion Ansten Samuelstuen died in Colorado on Aug. 18, 2012 at age 83. 'Sam' was a star ski jumper in the period of Art Devlin and Art Tokle. Read more on Hall of Fame site  or  Sam's Obituary.

 

Heistad and West Inducted in US Ski Jumping Hall of Fame
Long time Eastern jumper Don West was honored on Aug. 18 with induction into the US Ski Jumping Hall of Fame. West jumped for about 65 years, 44 years in the east. He served for about 40 years on the Eastern Jumping Committee, half of that as Secretary, and he established and maintained SkiJumpEast.com (this web site) for 15 years. Don's best skiing was done in the Old Boys class (age 32 and up when he started) where he competed for 40 years.

The only other Easterer in the 2012 induction class was Lebanon's Erling Heistad who was responsible for construction of the present LOC 50 meter ski jump tower and for providing many small jumps scattered through the town of Lebanon where young kids could get a start in the sport.

The Hall has now honored about 170 individuals, including 30 from the East. These include two Mikkelsen brothers from Greenfield MA, two Satre brothers from Salisbury and of course, the Babe Ruth of American ski jumping, Torger Tokle. The list also includes the big three of the post WW-II era: Art Tokle, Art Devlin and Mezzy Barber, along with their young protege, Roy Sherwood. Later we see Jay Rand of Lake Placid and Walter Malmquist. From Norwich VT, we have two Hastings brothers and the Hollands, plus Tad Langlois from down the river in Newport NH. In 2009, Dorothy Graves of Greenfield led the first four women jumpers inducted, and in 2010 Larry Stone joined current stars Nick Alexander, Bill Demong and Peter Frenette.

Of the 18 inductees honored in 2012, six came to Eau Claire to accept their certificates and two more were represented by their sons. Here are the six plus one of the sons.

Seven Honored Guests (Sue Norby photo)
(Left-to-right) Scott Smith, Don West, Wesley Neustel, Gary Sparpana, Jim House,
(son, Ole Arnesen, Jr.), Tom Dargay. Neustel is still Alpine skiing at age 92.

Others in the class of 2012 were Marvin Crawford, represented by son Gary, and John Broman, Jeff Denney, Jon Elliot, Erling Heistad, Francis Kempe, Glenn Kotlarek, Zane Palmer, Steve Reischl, Kris Severson and Crosby Perry-Smith.

Nominations are invited from all regions of the U.S. Read more, including the complete list of honored members and how to nominate someone.    

USA National Championships for 2012-13
Lodwick & Jerome win, Johnson & Frenette tie

Park City hosted the National Large Hill Championships on Sat. & Sun., Aug. 4&5 and on Saturday, in the men's special jump, Anders Johnson tied for the gold medal with Peter Frenette. Jessica Jerome won the ladies event while Todd Lodwick won the Nordic combined crown.
Sunday Normal Hill Results
Johnson and Jerome Repeat
Normal hill crowns on Sunday were taken by Anders Johnson and Jessica Jerome. Weekend activities included jumping in younger age groups on several hills, and Canadians from Calgary participated as guests.

Read more on the USA Ski Jumping web site.

 

Help Gunstock to repair their Jumps
From Lisa Kling of
Gunstock Mountain Historic Preservation Society and Gunstock Nordic Association

Dear Ski Jumping Enthusiast,

I and my family have been involved in the sport of ski jumping for over 20 years. It is a wonderful family of great people that gravitate to the sport and I have many fond and exciting memories from those individuals who I have had the pleasure to come in contact with through that involvement.
I and the jumping community as a whole need your help NOW more than ever to keep this great sport going.
Gunstock Mountain Historic Preservation Society (GMHPS) is in the process of helping to restore the ski jumps and revitalize the jumping program at Gunstock.
There has been a tradition of ski jumping at Gunstock for over 70 years.
With your help along with the fundraising efforts of GMHPS and the volunteer time and energy of GNA members and others we can and will bring back the tradition of ski jumping at Gunstock.
Our ski jump complex is unique for it's compact area four (4) jumps and cross country venue in such a close and convenient location. It is a wonderful and exciting place for training and competitions alike.
Sadly our jumps are in need of major repair and restoration for use. Our large K87 jump has been recently been named to the "NH Seven to Save" list of historic sites. this means it can never be torn down! This large jump has also been commemorated in memorial to Torger Tokle for his famous record breaking jump.
Restoration and revitalization of this Jump Complex is vital to the jumping community in NH, THE EAST and NATIONALY to keep the sport going strong.
GNA is committed to getting jumping going again at Gunstock and GMHPS is committed to help raise the funds to make that possible.
If a financial donation is not in your means right now then letters of motivational support and/or a pledge of volunteer help is more fitting for you then please help us now.
Please send any form of help you can and keep the tradition alive.
  GMHPS
P.O. Box 1307
Laconia NH 03247
or
 Gunstock Nordic Association
P.O. Box 7493
Gilford NH 03247
Both of these organizations are 501C3 tax deductible.
Thank you in advance for your gift of support.
Lisa Kling

Biker Billy Finishing

Demong Fifth in Whiteface Mt. Bike Race  
Bill Demong came back home to the Lake Placid area and finished fifth in the Wilmington/Whiteface Mountain Bike Race on Sunday, June 17. The race was the sole eastern qualifier for Colorado's Leadville Trail 100, the most prestigious mt. bike race in North America, so many of the 266 finishers in the Whiteface race were trying to grab starting spots at Leadville. Read all about it on the  Plattsburgh Press Republican  web site or  see complete results (103 kb .pdf). Also finishing the race was 56 year old Brian Delaney, father of jumpers Matt and Colin.
 

Eastern Jumpers Dominate USA-SJ Points List  

USA Ski Jumping has released it's jumper points list for 2012 and four of the top five spots are held by Eastern jumpers. Peter Frenette is number one, and Chris Lamb, Nick Alexander & Nick Fairall fill position 3,4 & 5. See Points List (119 kb .pdf)
 

Clarence 'Coy' Hill of Ishpeming (1927-2012)      
From US Ski Hall of Fame

American Ski Jumper and Hall of Famer Passes

Clarence "Coy" Hill, HOF Class of 1974, passed away May 13 at his home in Ishpeming, Michigan. He was 85. Coy Hill

Coy was born on April 27, 1927 and started ski jumping at the age of four and began competing at age 10. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and worked as an iron worker when he returned home. His love of ski jumping never diminished and he excelled in ski jumping competitions throughout the '50s and '60s.

"Ski jumping was my life," he stated during an interview in the documentary Winter Wonderland: Michigan's Golden Age of Skiing, "To fly through the air on a pair of skis..., the sensation cannot be put into words. It's the next perfect thing to flying like a bird, except the skis are your wings."

Read  Coy's HoF Bio  or  his obituary.

Rumford's Bill Chenard (1956-2012)      
Bill Chenard was a good Nordic Combined skier who grew up in Rumford, Maine. Bill was Jr National NC champion in 1972, New England High School Champion 1973, many times High School Champion in Maine in XC, great all around skier!
After high school, Bill spent a short time on the US NC Ski Team and then returned to New Hampshire to build the XC courses at the Balsams in upper NH. He then moved to Sugarloaf and developed the trail system at Carrabasset Valley Touring Center in Maine. Bill also worked as a 911 operator at Sugarloaf for many years and was the food service manager at UM Farmington until he passed. Married and a father of two, Bill had a cross country trail that wound around his property in Salem ME.
In Bill's honor the Mt. Abram High School Opener, one of the biggest XC races in ME, will named after Bill for his long time dedication to XC skiing in the Sugarloaf area. Anyone wishing to make a donation in Bill's memory can send it to the Chisholm Ski Club, PO Box 616, Rumford Me 04276     Read Obituary from Bill's Family     (from Dan Warner)

St Paul Master Jim Mylander Receives Bad News  

Enthusiastic adult beginner Jim Mylander of the St. Paul Ski Club has been diagnosed with colon cancer which has apparently spread to his liver. His doctors are hurrying to do surgery and follow up with other treatments. Contact Jim at 11147 Vessey Avenue South, Bloomington, Mn 55437 or by e-mail at myl52860@yahoo.com We'll post his CaringBridge web address here when we receive it.

Ken Tokle Honored with Nomination to Hall of Fame  

Mark Levasseur wants folks to know that our friend and long time jumping judge Ken Tokle has been nominated for induction into the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, MI. Nomination is just the first step -- the selection committee will pick inductees from the nominees later in the year, and induction will occur after that.

Kruegel wins first Dave Edlund Award  
A smile and a wave
Patrick Kruegel
  The Central Division is good at finding ways to recognize outstanding individuals, and in this year's spring meeting, the Central Jumping Panel got two birds with one stone. They created the Edlund Award to remember St Paul stalwart Dave Edlund who died suddenly in July 2011 at age 50. The new annual award will recognize the top Masters jumper in the Central Division.
The first recipient of the Edlund Award is Minneapolis skier Patrick Kruegel whose smile and enthusiasm makes him a joy to be around. Patrick skied many of the small and middle-sized hills, including the K-87 Silvermine Hill in Eau Claire, and on the Minneapolis K-70, his jumps of 66.5 & 65.5 gave Patrick a thumping home-hill victory.
 
Salisbury's Audrey Whitbeck (1930-2012)      
We have received the sad news that Audrey Whitbeck, past president of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association, had died on March 13, 2012. Audrey has not been visible around SWSA in her old age but years ago she was a front line worker, supporter and organizer, and she served for some time as SWSA president. [ See obit.]
Her husband Nelson 'Bam' Whitbeck, who worked in the ticket booth for years, died in 2009 but Audrey continued living in the old home place on Weatogue Rd. Audrey and Bam were both pharmacists and operated the drug store on the main street in Salisbury for decades.

 

Bryan Fletcher Wins the King's Cup !!  
For several weeks, Bryan Fletcher had been threatening to get onto the World Cup Nordic Combined podium, and finally he did it. But Bryan didn't nibble at the podium -- he shot right to the top. Nor did he make his breakthrough at some anonymous site, he got his first World Cup win on the biggest stage of all, the Holmenkollen.
See Article and Standings on our Billy-Watch Page.

Sarah Closes her Magical Season with a Win

World Cup Champion Sarah Hendrickson finished the inaugural women's World Cup season as she started it, with a victory. Competing in Oslo on Holmenkollen weekend on the newly rebuilt Midstubakken jump just below the fabled Holmenkollen hill, Sarah outpointed Sara Takanashi of Japan. Norway's Annette Sagen took third, Lindsey Van finished a solid fourth, with Daniela Iraschko just behind in fifth. Hendrickson won nine of the thirteen World Cup events (one of the 14 scheduled events was canceled) and took three second place finishes, ending the season with 1169 points, to Iraschko's 779 and Tanaka's 639. See  complete results  or  USST Article. With solid placings by Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome and others, the U.S. team also won the Nations Cup race over Germany 2228 points to 1601.

Ski Flying Videos, New and Old, all Good

Mike Holland, ex-star jumper living in Hanover NH, went to the 2012 World Championships of Ski Flying in Vikersund, Norway, and he has posted some pictures and a couple of videos, including a guy landing at 244.5, just two meters off the World Record. If you go to see the videos, the web page will list, on the right side of the screen, six of Mike's postings for you to view, two from Vikersund, two from Ford Sayre, one of pond skating, and an old 3 min. ABC clip of Mike's own world record ride in Planica. The Vikersund footage includes two nice long jumps and then that incredible ride of 244.5 meters. The long jumper in the silver suit, Anders Fannemel of Norway, couldn't handle the pressure and shanked his second ride, landing at 179.5 m and finishing 13th.  Go to the Video now.

Sarah wins 2 out of 3 World Cups in Japan

Zao, Japan, Mar 3 -- World Cup leader Sarah Hendrickson and World Junior Champion Sara Takanashi each won a World Cup competition on Saturday, and each took a second place. Two competitions were held on the same day with one replacing a canceled jump in Szczyrk, POL. In the morning jump, Hendrickson took slender 1.1 point win over Takanashi and in the end the two shared a new World Cup hill record of 99.5 meters.  See results.  After lunch, in the jump moved from Szczyrk, the young Japanese jumper turned the tables, winning a competition cut to a single round by an 11 point margin and improving the WC hill record to 102.5.  See results.  With only two World Cup events left and a lead of almost 300 points, Hendrickson has wrapped up the 2012 World Cup in Ladies Ski Jumping.
On Sunday, Feb 4, Sarah won again by 15 points over Sara and Daniela.  See results.  The ladies have now competed in 12 World Cup events of which Hendrickson has won 8 and placed second in three more!

Hendrickson Cops Silver at World Junior Championships
Erzurum, Turkey, Feb. 23 -- World Cup leader Sarah Hendrickson took the silver medal at the Championships, moving up one spot from her placing in 2010. Also competing were Nina Lussi and Nita Englund.  See results  or  USST Article.  Peter Frenette led the men's team with Brian Wallace, Will Rhoads and Christian Friberg.  See results  The team competitions were held on Feb 25. See the  Womens  or   Mens  team results.

Andrew Bliss Wins College Championships

Brattleboro, Feb. 18 -- Andrew Bliss of Lake Placid, a student at St. Lawrence University in Canton NY, outscored five other finalists from three regions, including defending champion Willy Graves, to win the second revived National Collegiate Ski Jumping Championships. Karin Friberg won the women's championship.  See results.

Super Sunday!  Sarah, Lindsey, Billy on Podium  

A resurgent Daniela Iraschko outscored Sarah Hendrickson for the second day in a row in Hintzenbach AUT, this time by 5 points. Lindsey Van took third. See results.  Sarah leads Daniela in World Cup points 589 to 473 -- Lindsey is third with 302.   In Val di Fiemme ITA Bill Demong finished a season-best third in a 10 km Gundersen Nordic Combined event.  See results.  Nick Alexander finished 16th in the Kranj (SLO) FIS Cup field of 69 jumpers.  See results. 

Iraschko Edges Hendrickson (finally)  

Daniela Iraschko (GER) finally defeated Sarah Hendrickson in a World Cup jumping competition -- the score: 123.3 to 122.6.  See results.  Sarah, who had recorded three victories in a row, frequently seals her victories with her second jump so the Saturday competition in Hintzenbach AUT might have come out differently had the jumping not been stopped after the first round. At the half-way point in the womens season, Sarah leads Daniela in World Cup points 509 to 373.

 
Bill Appleyard of Salisbury  (1933-2012)        
We have received the sad news of the death on Feb 11, 2012, of long time Salisbury supporter Bill Appleyard. Bill had retired a few years ago from his position as chief publicity man for SWSA and had recently moved to Chatham Mass on Cape Cod where he could fish, watch birds, and do other things he had always loved. Bill's obituary says that he had been a SWSA member and volunteer for 35 years, and we know that for many of those years, he was the one who got out the press releases that led to articles in the Hartford Courant and other newspapers, which brought the people into the gate on the second weekend in February, year after year. Bill was a refined gentleman, warm and outgoing, always with a smile to give or lend. He came to be a great friend to many who came through Salisbury one weekend every year. Read obituary notice

 

Good Trip to Midwest for Team East  

Six young skiers traveled to the midwest with coach Evan Bliss to compete in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, Jan 25, and at the Norge Ski Club complex outside of Chicago on the following Saturday and Sunday. Bliss reports that Matt Doyle, Sam Shapiro, Chris Rydel, Annie Frenette, Miles Lussi, and Luke Daniels had 3 excellent competitions despite the lack of snow, and all put up great results.

Coach Bliss wrote:
"Landing in Minneapolis Sunday night it did not look good for having a ski jumping competition, as the rain fell from the sky. However with a lot of help and some luck Minneapolis ski club got the hill together and we were able to train Tuesday and compete Wednesday evening. A good sized crowd was on hand to watch local and international skiers take to the air Wednesday night and Team East had one of the better team result I have seen in some time. The highlight in Minneapolis, if you asked the kids, would not have been having 3 boys in the top 7, it would be the trip to the Mall of America.

"Thursday we took to the road for a six hour road trip to Chicago and not a flake of snow was on the ground the whole drive. Luckily Scott Smith and the Norge Ski Club have snow making and put the hill together in time for the Saturday and Sunday competitions. The temperatures stayed cold enough for us to have two great competitions and yes, the wind was blowing near the windy city, but that didn't stop us. Luke landing on the podium both days and Miles just missing the podium on Sunday was a great way to end the trip. Thanks to everyone who came on the trip. I feel lucky to have such a well behaved and fun group to work with and it definitely makes my life easier!"  See results for  Minneapolis  or Norge  Saturday  or  Sunday  meets, or go to  Ski Jumping Central   for their report and more Norge results.

Frenette Qualifies for Sapporo World Cup  

Peter Frenette placed 32nd on Friday on the big hill in Sapporo to qualify for this weekend's two World Cup competitions. Anders Johnson placed 41st, one place away from qualifying. On Saturday, Peter moved up a few spots but didn't survive the final round cut to 30 jumpers. Frenette finished in 40th position with a single jump of 106 meters.   See Saturday results
In Sunday qualifying, Peter finished 37th and Anders placed 41st, again the first one not to make the show, less than a point behind the last qualifying skier. In the competition, Frenette had the misfortune of recording the shortest ride (90 m), missing the cut and finishing 50th. Daiki Ito, enjoying home cooking, won for the second day in a row, while Kazuyoshi Funaki, World and Olympic champion from the late 1990's, finished in 44th place. See Sunday results

Nick, Nick & Chris Jump in Bischofshofen COC  
Nick Alexander led teammates Chris Lamb and Nick Fairall in Jan 27 training for Continental Cup competition on the big hill in Bischofshofen Austria. Just the three Eastern skiers came to Bischofshofen. On Saturday, Chris placed 58th (114 m), Nick Fairall 60th (111m) and Nick Alexander 65th (107.5). Seventy skiers jumped in the first round (compare to a limit of 50 in World Cup) but only the top 30 made the final round, so the three Eastern boys watched.   See Saturday results 
On Sunday, Lamb finished 51st (118.5 m), Fairall 54th (117 m), and Alexander 67th (111 m).   See Sunday results 

Frenette Leads USA in Germany and Japan  
After a difficult weekend in Neustadt GER where Peter Frenette and Nick Fairall posted the top U.S. results, the USA-SJ team took the long trip to Sapporo where they fared better. In a three day COC meet, Frenette posted top USA results (26, 26, 25) ahead of Anders Johnson, Nick Alexander and Nick Fairall. Peter and Anders will stay in Sapporo for the upcoming World Cup.

Thirty six year old Kazuyoshi Funaki placed 3rd & 12th respectively on Saturday and Sunday. Funaki won Olympic gold (LH) and silver (NH) in the 1998 Nagano Games and became NH World Champion the following year in Ramsau, AUT. It was always said that Funaki would be the last one off the hill, and he obviously hasn't found a reason to retire from ski jumping. See results from Neustadt  Saturday  or  Sunday  or from Sapporo  Friday,  Saturday  or  Sunday  

Sarah Hendrickson Wins Again  

With no World Cup on the ladies schedule, most of the world's top female ski jumpers gathered on Jan 20 in Zakopane, POL for a Continental Cup event. Some of the top skiers sat out, including Lindsey Van, but Austrian Daniela Iraschko was skiing, as was Sarah Hendrickson of the USA. These two were the cream of the crop -- Iraschko laid down jumps of 88 & 85 meters on the 90 meter hill but Hendrickson answered with 89 &89.5 to win by 5.5 points. [ See Results.]

Bad Day for Daniela and Sarah  

Daniela Iraschko (AUT) finally broke Sarah Hendrickson's streak, winning the second Zakopane Continental Cup by just half a point. Iraschko flew 91 meters on her first jump, but she fell, leaving the door open for Sarah, who shanked her ride, landing at 79.5 and trailing by 5.5 points. In the final round, Sarah flew 86.5 meters and Iraschko answered with 83.5, good enough to win by a slender half-point. It is a sign of the dominance of these two athletes that they both had a bad day but they still placed first and second, sixteen points ahead of third. [ See Results.]

 
Sarah Does It Again!  
Sarah Hendrickson won the third competition of the first season of women's World Cup ski jumping, having already won the very first competition back in December. Her thumping thirty point victory over Takanashi of Japan put Sarah in a comfortable lead in World Cup points. [ See Results.]
. . . and Again!  
Sarah Hendrickson won the Saturday World Cup competition in Val di Fiemme, wresting the lead from Daniela Irashko with a final round jump of 107.5, the longest jump of the day. The final margin was just 1.7 points. [ See Results.] Sarah has now won three of the four Women's World Cup events and enjoys a good lead (329 to 193) over Iraschko. Lindsey Van is tied for third (166 points) with previous second place holder, Coline Mattel. Sara Takanashi plummeted from fourth to seventh as she left the World Cup tour for a week to win the jumping competition in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck.
. . . and One More Time!!  
Sarah did it again on Sunday, establishing a 12 point lead over Iraschko in round one. Then when Iraschko challenged her with a 105.5 meter jump, the only ride in the second round over 100 meters, Sarah responded with 108, breaking her own women's hill record, set the day before, and cementing her fourth World Cup victory in five events. Sarah how leads Iraschko 429 to 273 in World cup points. Lindsey Van finished sixth and Jessica Jerome eighth, stretching the U.S. ladies lead over Germany in Nations Cup standings to 868-589.

 
Vern Lamb of Lake Placid (1925-2012)
We have received the sad news of the death on Jan 1, 2012, of enthusiastic ski jumping supporter J. Vernon Lamb, Jr. at age 86. Vern was an FIS Jumping Judge and was one of a handful of people who brought the Olympic Games to Lake Placid in 1980. He helped to attract and organize many other events in Lake Placid including the World University Games. His son Joe had taken up the torch. Read obituary notice

 
Fairall Sweeps Lake Placid New Years Events  
Nick Fairall won the annual Lake Placid New Years Jump on Friday, Dec 30. Class winners were Emilee Anderson and Andre Denney. [See results]
Nick also won the Friday night Masters jump and took the Devlin Cup [See results]

 

Phil Dunham (1923-2011)
Photo by Dana Sprague We have received the sad news of the death on Nov 10, 2011, of long time jumper and honored Brattleboro VT resident, Phil Dunham.
Born July 5, 1923, Phil did his best jumping in the Veterans Class (age 32 and up), winning the Eastern Vets crown 9 times and becoming National Champion in 1961. Phil competed until age 60 and continued to take a few jumps on the small hill in Memorial Park well after that. He was inducted into the Masters Ski Jumpers Hall of Fame in 1990.
Phil was a public spirited citizen, serving several terms as president of the Brattleboro Outing Club. In addition, he involved himself in many other community service activites.
Read Phil's Obituary or read a longer memorial article, both in the Brattleboro Reformer.

 
Hendrickson Wins Inaugural Women's World Cup Event  
On a great weekend for the U.S. Ski Team Sarah Hendrickson dominated both training and competition at Lillehammer in the first ever women's world cup competition, winning by almost 30 points. Read more on the   FIS web site  or the   USST page.

Brattleboro Steps up to a New Level  
In 2012, Harris Hill will host the only FIS sanctioned special jumping competition in the U.S. The Feb 18-19 event will include the finals of U.S. College Ski Jumping and of the United States American Ski Jumping (USASJ) Series, but the main event will be the two day FIS Cup competition, which will attract jumpers from all over Europe. It will be an expensive weekend for the Brattleboro hosts, who ask for your help in paying the bills.   Read more Read more about helping (345 kb .pdf, with details and phone contacts).

Two Iron Mt. Jumpers Give You a New Look at Jumping  
Dan Englund has started a company that uses a radio controlled model helicopter and a remote controlled video camera to give us new views of the world. To demonstrate the service, Dan has posted on YouTube a video not quite five minutes long of the jumping at the Norge National Championships. Dan flies the helicopter while jumper and friend Zak Hammill controls the camera.   See the Video  or go to  Dan's Web Site .

 

On Sunday it's Anders Johnson & Jessica Jerome
Another beautiful day greeted the skiers in Lake Placid for the NYSEF Sunday competition. Anders repeated, as did Emilee Anderson, Jessica moved up to the top step of the podium and Colton Kissel topped the juniors, In Nordic combined, Bryan Fletcher took the open class while Ben Berend won the junior class. See the entire weekend's results, with six photos, all on a single page.

Anders Johnson & Abby Hughes Tops at Flaming Leaves
On a beautiful warm day, Anders Johnson and Abby Hughes won the mens and womens open classes in the annual Flaming Leaves ski jumping competition in Lake Placid. Junior winners were Emilee Anderson and AJ Brown. See complete results with six photos, plus results of NC jumping.

Anderson, Brown, Berend to Youth Olympics
Saturday's jump and Sunday's NC event were the selection events for three skiers to go to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held Jan. 13-22 in Innsbruck, Austria. By winning the Junior Classes in Saturday's jump, AJ Brown and Emilee Anderson qualified, while Ben Berend got the nod with a victory Sunday morning in the Junior NC. Gary Crawford will be the coach. Read more at the USSA Web Site.

David McCahill leaves NYSEF for Austria
Having been honored as Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined Domestic Coach of the year in the spring of 2011, David McCahill has left his position at NYSEF in Lake Placid to go to Austria. David writes "I've been offered a teaching position in Austria for this year, teaching English to students at a technical school in Rankweil (in the westernmost province of Voralberg, about 1.5 hours west of Innsbruck)." We wish David the best in his new undertaking, but we'll sure miss his enthusiasm here at home. We are told that Larry Stone will come out of retirement to fill in for David at NYSEF.

Hendrickson, Johnson, Demong are National Champs
Sarah Hendrickson and Anders Johnson were crowned U.S. National Normal Hill Ski Jumping Champions and Bill Demong took his fifth National Nordic Combined crown on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Norge Ski Club complex in Fox River Grove, IL. Second in the jumping was Nick Fairall, followed by Demong. Large hill champion Peter Frenette finished in 6th place. See complete results of Ski Jumping or the Nordic Combined National Championships. (The Saturday competition schedule included a full range of hill sizes and classes, but it appears that only those competitors in Class A (Mens or Womens) were competing for National titles.)

24 HOURS of FLIGHT WORLD DISTANCE CHALLENGE
Jeff Hastings, Executive Director of USA Ski Jumping reports that the 24 Hours Challenge was a great success. He writes " 96 different jumpers made a total of 464 jumps by around midnight when we called it a day. Together we (yes, we- I took 5 jumps) jumped almost 20 kilometers! Overall distance leader was Matthew Soukup from CAN at 602 meters. . . . Oh, and we raised over $22K to help ski jumping in the US." Congratulations to all of the athletes and organizers!

 
Carolyn Decker (1947-2011)

Carolyn Decker died on the morning of September 5, 2011 after a battle with a rare cancer. Carolyn was the mother of ski jumper Chris Decker and when Chris committed to ski jumping, the family moved from New Jersey to the North Country, where Carolyn quietly did many things in support of the sport. In anticipation of the 2002 Olympics, the Deckers established a home in Park City where for several years after the games, they generously welcomed Eastern jumpers training or competing at the Olympic facility.
Larry Stone, Eastern Coach during the Decker years, emphasizes how generous Carolyn and husband Bill were to our ski jumping program and how Carolyn, like Marianne Fairall, imbued all of us with her positive and cheerful attitude towards life and sport. She carried this amazing spirit right through to the end and kept smiling right through the struggle with her illness. Their generousity gave the Eastern teams of those years a base of operations in Park City which was a great advantage for us and allowed parents and ski jumpers a little leeway in a sport which costs a great deal to pursue on a national level.
Condolences can be sent to The William Decker family, 24 Nordic Way, Saranac Lake , NY 12983. Friends wishing to remember Carolyn may make memorial contributions to Ocular Melanoma Foundation in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home. 20 Church Street, Saranac Lake, NY, 12983.
There will be a celebration of her life Saturday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Lake Placid Lodge. All are welcome.
[ Read a lovely obituary notice prepared by the family.]

 
Larry Stone Releases His Third Album
Larry Stone may have retired from coaching but he isn't just relaxing. In addition to raising livestock on his farm in the Au Sable Valley, Larry is writing songs, then performing and recording them. He has recently released his third album "Thistles and Salt" on CD, on which most of the songs are Larry's own work. Read more on the Plattsburgh Press Republican Web site or order the album at Larry's web site.  

Jerome and Frenette are Big Hill Champs
The first round of the U.S. National Championships, the Large Hill Special Jumping, was held on Saturday, July 30, on the Park City Olympic 120 meter ski jump. Peter Frenette of Saranac Lake NY defended his national crown, and Jessica Jerome unseated Lindsey Van, last year's champion, who finished third. Chris Lamb and Sarah Hendrickson took silver medals. Nina Lussi finished fifth, Nick Fairall seventh, Bill Demong nineth, Willy Graves 17th, and Spencer Knickerbocker 32nd. [ See complete results.] Small Hill championships and the Nordic Combined event will be hosted on the Norge ski Club's 70 meter jump in October. Earlier in the week, Nick Alexander, Peter Frenette and Chris Lamb gave the East a sweep in a 90 meter competition.    [ See July 27 results or July 28 results or July 30 results.]

 
Three Deaths in the Central Division

David Edlund Dies Suddenly in St Paul

Dave Edlund in 2011 We have received the shocking news of the sudden, unexpected death on July 18, 2011 of Dave Edlund, jumper, father of three jumpers, coach and supporter of the sport.
Born July 6, 1960, Dave continued his jumping well into Masters age, competing in two International Masters Championships (IMC) and several National Masters Age Group Championships. He finally quit his own jumping to support his son Davey who developed into a fine ski jumper. Two more talented sons followed in the sport.
See a brief memorial on the St. Paul Ski Club web site, or read a short obituary notice.

 
Lloyd "Snoball" Severud (1916-2011)
With the death of Lloyd "Snoball" Severud, the U.S. ski jumping community has lost one of its great icons. Snoball, who died on June 27, 2011 at age 95, had served two separate terms as coach of the U.S. ski jumping team. He continued his jumping even as he began his coaching career, winning the Veterans Class title at five national championships on all of the big hills: Steamboat Springs, Westby, Berlin, Iron Mountain and Leavenworth.
Snoball was small in stature and slender, the perfect build for today's ski jumper, and he seemed to have endless energy. He brought a number of innovations to U.S. ski jumping. Between rounds in a competition, he might be seen wearing his competitor's number and raking the landing hill. For this he popularized the use of crampons to aid in getting around on the hill, and he brought the now universal wide aluminum rakes from his day job on a golf course.
A humble and popular man, Severud was an honored member of the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame and the Masters Ski Jumpers Hall of Fame, and was a charter member of the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame. [ See Obituary ]

 
Dr Martin Erlandson of Westby  (1956-2011)
Art Tokle has relayed a sad message:  Dr Martin Erlandson passed away yesterday. He was past president of the Snowflake Ski Club and father to Ben. Also was Chiropractor in Westby. He will be greatly missed!  Tokle commented "Marty was a friend to all of us and many of the Eastern crew knew him well."  [ Brief death notice ]

 
David McCahill, Ryan Short, Brian Delaney in Mt. Bike Race
(June 19) David McCahill placed sixth overall in the Wilmington/Whiteface 100 km Mt. Bike Race, finishing in 3 hours 53 minutes and 42 seconds, only about 20 minutes behind the winner, pro mt. biker Jeremiah Bishop. Ex-jumper Ryan Short finished the demanding event in 4:36:50, good enough for 53rd place. Brian Delaney, father of Matt and Colin and proprieter of High Peaks bike and ski shop, finished 114th in 5:28:49. The race was one of a handful of qualifying events for the annual 100 mile mt. bike race in Leadville, Colorado. We don't know if any of our friends hope to go to Leadville -- many of the local racers took part in Sunday's race just because it was there.

Dan Warner's Report on the 2011 USSA Convention
Eastern Jumping Committee Chairman Dan Warner attended the Annual USSA Convention and has shared his notes on subjects including awards (listed below), competition series, national championships, FIS rules, the women's team and SJ-USA. [ See Dan's Report ]

East Garners Honors at USSA Convention
The Annual USSA Convention is a time for awards and recognition, and Eastern Division brought home plenty of awards this year.

 

USSA Membership Applications
Now you must go to the USSA Web Page to Renew
Apply on-line or print out a form, fill it out and mail it in.
To apply on-line, you will be asked for a username and password.
Click at right to Renew On-line or to Download Forms.

 
See 2010-11 News Items

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