It could not have been a nicer day for ski jumping as the sun blazed down through a deep blue sky. The winds had diminished to half of yesterday's strength and the athletes strutted their stuff on the new Satre Hill. Some skiers used the stairs but more used the lift (below). One small part of the upgrade to the Salisbury ski jump was the improvement of the roads which allowed the shuttle-truck to drive up to the back of the tower where lovely stairs take the skiers up to the start area.

The hill is ready, the skiers have arrived, and the weather is cold and beautiful. The hill was open for training until 4 pm, and the athletes took full advantage.

Below are four snapshots of some of the last rides.

As you see, it was a beautiful day. When the jumping was over and only a few people were left at the jumps, Larry Stone was doing his magic with a water sprayer on the track when a lonely deer wandered onto the knoll. A few of us watched from the bottom while Larry, a well known deer hunter, looked down from the tower.

The deer seemed a bit confused, walking down the knoll, then back up, and down again, until finally it nimbly lept the right-hand fence and flitted past the new judges stand and into the woods.

At 6:30 pm, all the athletes lined up and, led by a solo drummer, they marched (strolled, sauntered and danced) up Main Street to the snowy Library lawn for the brief opening ceremonies.  

Right, the host team from the Eastern Div. Below, the Team from the Rocky Mt. Div.

After a couple of short speeches, eighty nine year old George Kiefer (below, center), lifetime member and tireless supporter of SWSA, declared the Junior Olympics OPEN.

Right: Nina Lussi of Lake Placid, recently returned from the World Junior Championships in Estonia, had the honor of carrying the torch and lighting the flaming cauldron.

When the ceremonies were finished, athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers hurried to the platial new volunteer fire station for a satisfying pasta dinner and some friendly conversation.

Here we see three icons of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA). On the left, ex-president Mat Kiefer, son of George Kiefer (center), exchanging pleasantries with National Champion and Olympian, Roy Sherwood.