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Feb 13 -- This is the End of our Report.
We hope that you have enjoyed watching the end of the old Satre Hill tower and the development of the new, including all of the extras that have brought the facility into the 21st century. Here are three final pictures.
Gone is the old threadbare wooden tower whose integrity caused some onlookers to worry, and whose long, long takeoff forced skiers to try to learn new habits, perhaps even bad habits.
Here is the new tower, strong as concrete and steel, and with a modern profile.
And finally, a look straight up the inrun with a modern, straight, iced, machine-cut track.
Thanks for visiting SkiJumpEast.com. Don West, webmaster.
Feb 11 -- First Jumps and First Competition.
In the morning of Friday, Feb. 11,, SWSA Masters jumper Mark breen had the honor of taking the first jump on the new Satre hill. That evening, nine jumpers climbed the new tower to participate in the first competition, a target jump under the lights. The hill looked terrific and the jumping was super, as it was on Saturday during the Salisbury Invitational and Sunday for the Eastern Championships. Here is my first view as I drove in late Friday afternoon.
Congratulations to all the hard working volunteers of SWSA for a huge project well finished. Not only do we have the brand new 70 meter jump that the East has needed for so long, but SWSA has added lots of thoughtful extras: better roads, beautiful new judges stand, electric power and permanent lighting, and Wi-Fi in the Byrd house and the judges stand. Welcome to ski jumping in the twenty first century! (DCW)
Dec. 30 Report -- Looks just like a ski jump, snow and all!.
On Dec. 29, while the kids were all in Lake Placid ski jumping and having fun, Pete Claus thought he'd like to take a look at the progress on the new Satre tower. He piled into his car with Ken Tokle and Dean Schambach (now there's a crew!) and drove to Connecticut on a gray day following the following the first snow of the season, the great December blizzard that shut down New York City for several days.
What they found looked just like a ski jump. Here is the view from the bottom as they walked up the outrun.
The tower looks almost complete, lacking only the
deflecting boards down the two sides of the track.
On the day of the visit, SWSA president Ken Barker was in Lake Placid serving as USSA Technical Delegate at the annual Lake Pladid Masters ski jumping competition. Asked how close the construction was to completion, Ken responded "About two weeks."
Nov. 30 Report -- the Steel Tower Grows to Full Height.
On Nov. 30, Jack Phelps sent 15 more pictures, apparently taken earlier in the week by Mark Breen, mostly showing the progress of the new steel trestle. We have selected seven to post below.
The first two photos show the state of the tower on Nov. 22 (JFK Day). Below left, if you look carefully, you can see a four-leg tower behind the slide that is shown in detail below, right.
On Saturday, November 27, the Churchill Brothers crew was back at work,
putting up more sections of steel that were assembled in advance on the ground.
The arched piece is apparently the highest steel section of the new tower. We don't know what will be housed in the small area behind the arch -- perhaps a refreshment stand selling hot mulled cider.
Added later: Jack says that a second arched rafter will be placed at the very back, over the point of the trianglar overhang, to support a small roof. But no cider, just a place for the ski jumpers to find shelter while they wait to put on their skis.
And why the overhang? Jack says "... we are at the property line ..."
Where is the traditional Christmas tree, topping out the new steel structure?
Note that in the picture above, the judges stand still has no roof. The roof went on the next day, as shown in the report below -- yes, it's out of order.
Nov. 29 Report -- the Roof Goes on the Judges Stand.
Jack Phelps sent two more batches of pictures showing the new roof being set on the new judges stand. Judges assigned to the upcoming Junior Olympic competition will be pleased to see what a fine facility they will be using next February.
Sometimes workers carry rafters, sheathing and roofing up through a new building and build a new roof right up there in place, but these guys built the new roof on the ground and hoisted it into place with a crane. Slick!
Nov. 21 Report -- the Tower Grows, as does the Judges Stand.
Eastern Masters champion Mark Breen sent thirteen nice pictures snapped on Sunday, Nov. 21.
Mark included no comments, but we can see what is going on in the six images posted below.
We can see that the steel tower has grown a little more, and if you look
carefully, you can see that crews have begun to install the decking.
Here is a good look at the decking leading in to the take-off.
Here we see the wooden framing of the new judges stand, built on a steel foundation.
You can see the slanted array of five windows where the five judges will stand, and on the left, the sixth window for the Chief of Competition and the Technical Delegate.
Mark included another nice picture of the Byrd House (above, left) with its new stairs.
The Byrd House is named for the Byrd family which donated the building, which was moved to the ski jump area.
Above, right, we see the cook shack, and behind it, a nice fresh fence that extends far to the right where trees have been removed and the land smoothed and grass planted.
Finally, here is a view of the new hill, with its widened knoll and landing, new
deflection boards, judges stand and tower, all growing apace. It looks great!
See Earlier Pictures:
Phase-I or
Phase-II;
or
See SWSA Page
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