Please note the links above … click the USA Nordic logo to access the US national ski jumping and Nordic combined teams. Click the large FIS Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined logos to view the FIS news pages for those disciplines. The “month” links below the FIS Ski Jumping logo will bring you directly to the FIS ski jumping calendar, and the similar links below the FIS Nordic Combined logo will bring you to the Nordic Combined calendar. 2020 Season Ends Abruptly Due to Coronavirus Pandemic Archives of 2019-20 competition coverage can be found on next page … ARCHIVE We’ll be turning our attention to features during the off-season, but here are a couple 2020 highlights! Tara Geraghty-Moats Secures FIS NC Series Title in Russia Finishes 2020 season with 660 points; Norway’s Marte Leinan Lund 2nd with 487 points After taking 2nd place in Wednesday’s jumping round, series leader Tara Geraghty- Moats started 2 sec behind jump winner Stefaniya Nadymova of Russia, then raced away from the field in the cross-country competiton in Nizhniy Tagil to win the 5K race by 33 sec … Results: Wed 03/11 jump Wed 03/11 final (click photo to enlarge) Tara put an exclamation point on her second consecutive season championship by winning the final competion of the season on Thursday. Results: Thurs 03/12 Final rankings: 2020 season Clemens Aigner Wins Twice in Iron Mt, Sets New Hill Record Flies 144 meters (472 feet) in first round on Sunday 10/16, moves to top of season standings TEAMS FROM: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, USA A huge Saturday crowd saw Austria’s Clemens Aigner take first place in Continental Cup action. He put together flights of 133 and 129.5 meters A pair of Americans made the final round; Andrew Urlaub placed 27th and Decker Dean was 30th. On Sunday, Aigner won again, setting a new hill record of 144M* on his first jump, and 136 on his second. Urlaub was 27th again. He now leads the Continental Cup season standings after 20 of 30 events. WATCH VIDEO OF RECORD JUMP (J Asselin) Results: Sat 2/15 Sun 2/16 series standings Webmaster is Enjoying the Off-Season! Please come back and visit over the spring, summer, and fall months … Your webmaster is enjoying some of his other activities for the next few months. Kayaking, motorcycling, hanging out with kids and grandkids, attending racing events at Road America in Elkhart Lake WI, sipping coffee at riverfront and lakefront cafes, poking around in some of Wisconsin’s state parks and state forests, exploring the Lake Michigan shoreline and harbor towns … blue skies, green trees and fields, blue water. “Escape to Wisconsin … smell our dairy air!” Previous Highlights on ARCHIVE page, next tab …

*

*approx location of new record

Iron Mt/Kiwanis Ski Club … www.kiwanisskiclub.com US ski jumping history… www.americanskijumping.com

A R C H I V E - H I G H L I G H T S Tara Geraghty-Moats Secures FIS NC Series Title in Russia Finishes 2020 season with 660 points; Norway’s Marte Leinan Lund 2nd with 487 points After taking 2nd place in Wednesday’s jumping round, series leader Tara Geraghty- Moats started 2 sec behind jump winner Stefaniya Nadymova of Russia, then raced away from the field in the cross-country competiton in Nizhniy Tagil to win the 5K race by 33 sec … Results: Wed 03/11 jump Wed 03/11 final (click to enlarge pic) Tara put an exclamation point on her second consecutive season championship by finishing first in the final competion of the season on Thursday. Results: Thurs 03/12 Final rankings: 2020 season World Junior Championships - Oberwiesenthal GER Nordic Combined & Ski Jumping March 4th thru March 8 • NC-Women Results: Wed 03/04 Anna Malacinski 24th, Tess Arnone 25th • NC-Men Results: Wed 03/04 Niklas Malacinski 27th, Evan Nichols 29th • SJ--Men Results: Wed 03/05 Andrew Urlaub 18th, Decker Dean 21st Americans in FIS International Action Feb 22-23 Read the weekend update on the USANordic website … CLICK HERE • Trondheim WC-NC M Results: Sun 02/23 Fletcher 28th • Val di Fiemme COC-SJ M Results: Sat 02/22 Kevin Bickner 5th • Eisenerz COC-NC M Results: Sat 02/22 Shumate 13th, Loomis 20th, Good 24, Andrews 50 • Eisenerz COC-NC W Results: Sat 02/22 Geraghty-Moats 2nd, Malacinski 24th, Arnone 29th • Eisenerz COC-NC Team Results: Sat 02/22 Loomis, Geraghty-Moats, Malacinski, Shumate 4th • Eisenerz COC-NC W Results: Sun 02/23 Geraghty-Moats 2nd, Malacinski 23rd, Arnone 29th Clemens Aigner Wins Twice in Iron Mt, Sets New Hill Record Flies 144 meters (472 feet) on Sunday 10/16 A huge Saturday crowd saw Austria’s Clemens Aigner take first place in Continental Cup action. He put together flights of 133 and 129.5 meters A pair of Americans made the final round; Andrew Urlaub placed 27th and Decker Dean was 30th. On Sunday, Aigner won again, setting a new hill record of 144M* on his first jump, and 136 on his second. Urlaub was 27th again. He now leads the Continental Cup season standings after 20 of 30 events. WATCH VIDEO OF RECORD JUMP (J Asselin) Results: Sat 2/15 Sun 2/16 series standings USA’s Tara Geraghty-Moats Wins European Ski Marathon So THAT’s what she does when not competing in Nordic Combined or ski jumping! VIEW RESULTS She’s the most dominant female NC competitor in the world, and has been driving the level of women’s competition to be better … in fact she recently posted two second-place finishes. She has competed in several events on the US women’s ski jumping team, too. But on February 14, she won the women’s title in the annual European Ski Marathon in just over 2 hours. CLICK FOR RESULTS, click the Results link on page, use the drop list to find 2020, then “women’s overall.” CONGRATULATIONS, TARA! American Men & Women in Continental Cup Feb 8-9 Competition for both men & women held in Brotterode GER • Sat - Women Results: Sat 02/08 N Lussi 15th, J Highfill 23rd, C Larson 25th, S Macuga 26th • Sat - Men Results: Sat 02/08 A Urlaub 28th, C Larson 43rd, P Gasienica 50th • Sun - Women Results: Sun 03/09 N Lussi 19th, J Highfill 21st, C Larson 23rd, S Macuga 25th • Sun - Men Results: Sat 03/09 A Urlaub 24th, C Larson 41st, G Scharffs 57th Americans in FIS International Action Jan 31-Feb 02 Continental Cup Ski Jumping & NC in Planica SLO, World Cup NC in Seefeld AUT • Planica-SJ Results: Sat 02/01 Andrew Urlaub 28th • Planica-NC Results: Sat 02/01 Taylor Fletcher 5th Sun 02/02 Fletcher 14th, Jasper Good 45th We want to highlight Taylor Fletcher’s performance in NC at Planica. He finished 5th on Saturday, with the third fastest race time after finishing 42nd in the jump round. On Sunday, he placed 50th in the jump round, but had the fastest time in the race, finishing 14th overall. Congratulations to Taylor! Andrew Urlaub made it to the final round of 30 on Saturday in Planica’s ski jumping competition, and placed 28th overall, gaining valuable points in the series standings. High fives to Andrew! Midwest 5 Hills & US Cup Series in January & February Tournaments included jumps of various sizes, including FOUR OLYMPIC-SIZED HILLS! Read excellent article by USA Nordic’s Ben Berend on ski jumping in the midwest … CLICK HERE Red asterisk * indicates Olympic-sized hill. Blue asterisk * indicates “5 Hills” & US Cup event. • Jan 05 Sunday St Paul Ski Club, Maplewood MN small hills K46 NC race • Jan 18 * * Sat Flying Eagles Ski Club, Eau Claire WI am K85 us cup eve K85 NC • Jan 19 * Sunday Minneapolis Ski Club, Bloomington MN K70 us cup • Jan 21-22 * * Tue-Wed Ishpeming Ski Club, Ishpeming MI K90 us cup NC race • Jan 25-26 * Sat-Sun Norge Ski Club, Fox River Grove IL K70 us cup • Jan 31-Feb 1 * * Fri-Sat Snowflake Ski Club, Westby WI K108 us cup Fri Sat 5 Hills final Americans in FIS Competition Weekend of Jan 24-26 World Cup & Continental Cup Ski Jumping; World Cup Nordic Combined • Zakopane POL World Cup Ski Jumping Kevin Bickner qualifies for starting field of 50, places 39th Sunday Results: Sun 01/26 • Sapporo JPN Continental Cup Ski Jumping Decker Dean 40th, Patrick Gasienica 43rd, Casey Larson 46th Sunday Results: Sun 01/26 • Oberstdorf GER World Cup Nordic Combined Jared Shumate 39th, Ben Loomis 40th, Jasper Good 46th Sunday Results: Sun 01/26 Nordic Combined in Oberwiesenthal GER Jan 11-12 FIS CONTINENTAL CUP: USA’s Shumate 9th in jump round, races to 7th overall… personal best • NC - Jasper Good 18th, Jared Shumate 34th Results: Sat 01/11 • NC - Shumate 7th (9th in jump round), Good 32nd, G Andrews 48th Results: Sun 01/12 Bickner 26th in Garmisch- Partenkirchen GER, 4-Hills #2 USA Nordic’s top jumper kicks off 2020 with a pair of great flights! Results: Wed 01/01 Kevin Bickner flew 130.5 meters in the first round at Garmisch on New Year’s Day, and advanced to the final round of 30. His final jump of 131.5M landed him in 26th place overall with a total score of 248.2 points. Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi was shooting for a sixth consecutive win in the 4-Hills series, which he swept last year, just missed the podium in 4th. The top three today were Norway’s Marius Lindvik (143.5M, 136M, 289.2 points), Germany’s Karl Geiger (132, 141.5, 285), and Poland’s Dawid Kubacki (137, 139.5, 284). Congratulations to Kevin for making the final round in such a strong field! Bickner 22nd in Engelberg, Fletcher 39th in Ramsau Bickner missed final round Saturday, had solid result Sunday Results: Sat 12/21 Sun 12/22 Kevin Bickner blasted out a terrific jump of 128 meters in Engelberg on Friday, qualifying 15th in a field of 63 of the world’s best ski jumpers, but wasn’t able to match that jump in Saturday’s competition, finishing 38th on a jump of 116 meters, and missing the final round of 30. On Sunday, he finished 26th in the first round with a jump of 117.5 meters, and 15th in the final round, for a 22nd place finish. Congratulations, Kevin! Fletcher missed the Saturday NC competition, finished 39th Sunday Results: Sun 12/22 Taylor Fletcher is only US entrant in Ramsau-am- Dachstein in Normal Hill/10K Nordic Combined action this weekend. He finished 51st in Friday’s provisional jump; oh, so close, but only the top 50 started in Saturday’s comp. On Sunday, he finished 39th overall. High fives to Taylor! Tara Geraghty-Moats Wins 3x in Park City, Ben Loomis 5th Twice Results-Women: Fri 12/13 Sat 12/14 Sun 12/15 Results-Men: Fri 12/13 Sat 12/14 Sun 12/15 Park City’s Olympic Center hosted an international NC festival in mid-December, kicking off the 2020 FIS Continental Cup Nordic Combined season for both men and women. Friday the 13th proved to be another banner day for Tara Geraghty-Moats. She dominated the race segment, after finishing only 10th in the jump round. That resulted in her starting the 5K race 1:12 behind the jump round winner. She blasted her way past the 9 athletes who started ahead of her, finishing 13.5 sec ahead of Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen. Two other Americans competed today, with Tess Arnone finishing 9th, Alexa Brabec 10th, and Annika Malacinski 11th. Tara entered 10 of the 11 events on last year’s FIS Continental Cup (skipped one), and won three preliminary (non-FIS) meets in Scandinavia in November. In men’s action on Friday, Ben Loomis was the top US finisher, in 15th place. Other US athletes included Jared Shumate 25th, Jasper Good 27th, Niklas Malacinski 29th, Grant Andrews 37th, Carter Brubaker 40th, Evan Nichols 38th, and Aidan Ripp 42nd. Saturday’s competition format for both men and women was mass-start, where they race first with all racers starting at once, then compete in ski jumping later. The races were held in the afternoon, with the jumping under lights in the evening. As with the traditional “Gundersen” format (jump first), the final score is determined by performance in both disciplines, ski jumping and XC race. Geraghty Moats posted another win Saturday, with A Malacinski 7th, Brabec 8th, Arnone 9th. Loomis took 5th in the men’s field, Shumate 11th, Good 22nd, Andrews 28th, N Malacinski 31st, Henry Johnstone 38th, Gunnar Gilbertson 40th, and Beckett Ledger 42nd. Sunday’s competitions were Gundersen format, jump first, race later. Geraghty-Moats was first in the jump round, raced 10K in 15:23.7, winning her third event of the weekend. She leads the Continental Cup season points standings, undefeated with three victories. Brabec was 8th, A Malacinski 9th, Nina Lussi (a member of our ski jumping team making her first start in Nordic Combined) 11th, and O’Connell 12th. Although, although O’Connell finished last in the jump round, resulting in her starting significantly behind Geraghty- Moats, her race time was fastest of all, 5.0 seconds faster than Tara. Ben Loomis picked up another 5th place on Sunday, with teammates Shumate 10th, Andrews 20th, Good 23rd, Nichols 36th, Ripp 38th, Johnstone 39th, Ledger 42nd. Tara Tops Podium TWICE at Norwegian Nationals Nov 23 & 24 Three consecutive wins to start the season; will jump in Norway Dec 6-8, NC in Utah Dec 13-15 USA Nordic has posted via FB that Tara Geraghty-Moats has made it three victories in two weekends, winning twice at the Norwegian Nationals on November 23 & 24. We don’t yet have her time from Saturday, but on Sunday she started 12 sec back of Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR), who had won the jump round. Tara had finished 4th in jumping. She took the lead from Hansen around 4:20, and cruised to a 1:02.6 margin of victory with a time of 12:01.3. Congratulations to Tara! CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE Geraghty-Moats Wins FIS Women’s NC in Falun SWE Nov 16 First NC weekend of the season Official results FIS article Picking up where she left off last season, USA Nordic’s Tara Geraghty-Moats stood atop the podium on Saturday, Nov 16 in a women’s FIS Nordic Combined event in Sweden. Tara finished 7th in the jump round, giving her a starting position 46 seconds behind the jump winner, Thea Minyan Bjorseth of Norway. Another Norwegian, Marte Leinan Lund, was third in jumping. In the cross-country race, Geraghty-Moats was almost 2 minutes faster than the next fastest athlete. She won the event in 14:53, which was 1:49 ahead Italy’s Veronica Gianmoena, who had finished 5th in the jump round. Bjorseth placed third at +01:56.

*

*approx location of new record

Iron Mt/Kiwanis Ski Club … www.kiwanisskiclub.com US ski jumping history… www.americanskijumping.com

R E G I O N A L S K I J U M P I N G C L U B S

The USA Nordic website has a map of US ski jumping and Nordic Combined clubs, as well as a link to a Google map of all these locations … CLICK HERE. They also have an extensive list of contact information for all of these clubs.

MIDWESTERN USA Illinois Chicago/Fox River Grove (Norge) Michigan Iron Mountain/Kingsford (Kiwanis) Ishpeming Minnesota Coleraine (Mt Itasca) Minneapolis Saint Paul Cloquet Red Wing (Aurora) - historic Wisconsin Cameron Eau Claire (Flying Eagles & Sr) Madison (Blackhawk) Wisconsin Rapids (Tri-Norse) Iola Westby (Snowflake) CANADA Alberta Calgary - SkiJumpingCanada Calgary - Altius Nordic Ski Club British Columbia Vancouver/Whistler

WESTERN USA Alaska Anchorage Colorado Steamboat Springs Utah Park City Nordic Ski Club EASTERN USA New York Lake Placid Vermont Brattleboro (Harris Hill) Burlington Connecticut Salisbury New Hampshire Andover Gunstock GMHPS (history) Hanover/Ford Sayre Lebanon Maine Rumford

Just for fun, look up all American ski jumps on this site: www.skisprungschanzen.com/EN It includes ALL jumps, not just those currently in use, but also those which are no longer active. You will see that this sport once had a HUGE base of participation in the US ... if there’s not a club in your area, but there once was a club, perhaps you can help re-kindle interest and get a club going again!

R E C R U I T I N G & R E T E N T I O N

Ideas & efforts to bring more people into the sport, and to keep skiers involved in the sports of ski jumping and Nordic combined, will be the focus of this page. • Explain Recruiting and Retention ... Why Are They Important? • What About Safety? Isn’t Ski Jumping Awfully Dangerous? scroll down • When Do Jumpers Hang ‘em Up? It Can Be a Lifetime Sport! scroll down Recruiting and Retention ... Bringing in New Faces, Keeping Jumpers Jumping! Ski jumping and Nordic combined are hugely popular in other snow- sports countries, but almost invisible in North America. There are a lot of factors at play, but the challenge is two-fold. We need to introduce the sport to a larger audience, and not just athletes, but families, fans, and friends. And we need to create incentives for those who have learned and enjoyed the sport to stay involved, continuing to ski as they move into the Masters classes, which are defined by age in 10-year brackets. Seniors 20-29, Masters 1 30-39, Masters 2 40-49, etc., and jumpers use whatever hill size matches their skill and comfort level. This year, there’s a new pre-Masters class for jumpers 25-29. This should help keep jumpers in action as young adults. Please visit the Masters Facebook page and JOIN this group to stay informed ... CLICK HERE There’s been endless talk about why our numbers are small, both in terms of competitors and fans, and what might be done about it. There are some concerted efforts underway to address both ends of this problem, and we’ll be asking various folks to weigh in on what they are already doing, what longer-term plans and ideas are being considered and implemented. If anyone has all the answers, we haven’t met ‘em yet. But a lot of us think we have at least some of the answers. HOWEVER ... we think it’s just as important to make sure we’re asking the right questions. We hope we can help move these conversations along by getting as much discussion and information as possible out into the open. We’ll also be posting various resource materials, some of which we’ve developed and published in the past, and some new things that are currently being developed by others. Stay tuned ... this will be a permanent “work in progress.” We hope it’ll add value and promote a lot of cross-communication among those who want to see our sport grow. OH, NO ... THE WEBMASTER IS GETTING UP ON HIS SOAPBOX AGAIN The demographics of most sports are shaped like a pyramid. A big base of learners, occasional participants, coaches, volunteers, parents, families, and just plain fans. On higher levels are serious participants of different skill levels, leading up to semi-pro and professional levels in some sports, or elite level organized leagues, college athletics, etc. At the top of a wide and solid pyramid are the best of the best. The numbers, and visibility, lead to media coverage AND sponsor interest, which are inextricably linked to EYEBALLS ... people paying attention to articles and advertising! THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF SKI JUMPING AND NORDIC COMBINED LOOK LIKE A TELEPHONE POLE! Having a lot of people involved in, and aware of a sport at lower levels means there will be an interested audience to follow the sport at top competitive levels, which can take the form of watching it on TV or in person, making individual financial contributions to a club, a program, or even an individual athlete. Sponsors are interested in getting exposure to an audience. No audience, no sponsors. We MUST think long-term about building a pyramid! Snow sports are biggest in New England, the upper midwest, and in the mountains of the west (Rockies, Wasatch, Cascades, Sierras). Although historically there were jumping clubs and facilities throughout all these regions, it’s now mostly confined to a small number of clubs in the northeast, upper midwest, and two large resort areas in the west ... Steamboat Springs and Park City. Many ski jumps in other parts of “snow country” were torn down after the sport declined in numbers of participants and number of active clubs here in the USA. We MUST find a way to focus on making our sport more visible IN PLACES WHERE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY PARTICIPATING IN, AND INTERESTED IN, OTHER FORMS OF SNOW SPORT!!! That would certainly involve growing our existing clubs, and perhaps bringing at least entry-level ski jumping into places where OTHER forms of ski sport are happening. How about building some “snow bumps” in downhill areas which already have things like terrain gardens, with programs and facilities for non-traditional downhill pursuits (snowboarding, freestyle, etc.)? And many of them also offer cross-country ... which is the other half of our sister sport, Nordic combined! It would take some selling, but think about this ... it could potentially lead to some summer programs on small jumps with plastic surfaces, and bring in summer business! Picture summer leagues for all ages on small hills. MAYBE CREATING A PYRAMID IS A STRETCH, BUT LET’S MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE! This past summer, some folks put together the most accurate census they could compile of the number of active ski jumpers in the USA, and it indicated around 600. That would include everybody who straps ‘em on, not just serious competitors. Our serious competitors are at the top of the pole today, and they’ll be at the top of the Christmas tree in the future. THE CHALLENGE IS EXPANDING THE BASE! That means bringing in more people at the entry level ... new kids to try it out, even adults! Families and friends coming to watch, and maybe to volunteer. Make if fun and welcoming, and make it something that they’ll tell others about. And for those who have “climbed the pole” to some level, then dropped out, find a way to bring ‘em back. And to keep people from dropping out in the future. Make it exciting and enjoyable for them to keep flying through the air just for fun! BY THE WAY ... the Masters Class National Championships are being held in Chicago in January ... watch for more info! Imagine if we could grow our base by a mere 10% per year for ten years ... that’s adding one new person OR keeping one from walking away for each ten already involved. If your club has 20 competitors, bringing in ONE new person and keeping ONE from dropping out is 10% ... that doesn’t seem terribly difficult, does it? If we could do this for five years, we’d grow from 600 to 660, then 726, 799, 879, and 967. We’d grow from 600 to almost a thousand in five years with 10 percent annual gain including both recruitment and retention. What would happen at 20%? Here are the figures ... 600, 720, 864, 1037, 1244, 1492. If we keep playing to the same crowd, same families, same circles of friends, bringing in no more than we lose through dropouts, we’ll remain a telephone pole. With growth comes excitement, and enthusiasm, and NEW PEOPLE BRINGING IN OTHER NEW PEOPLE, and TALKING IT UP TO MORE NEW PEOPLE! That means retention in another way; we’d get more coaches, volunteers, etc. They’re ALL part of the base we need to expand! Think CHRISTMAS TREE! GROW OR WITHER; THOSE ARE OUR TWO OPTIONS. FUTURE, OR NO FUTURE. GOTTA DECIDE. SAFETY … BUT ISN’T SKI JUMPING AWFULLY DANGEROUS? Let’s think about this for a moment. The talent pool of youngsters in most other snow-sport countries is undreamed of here, but in countries where it’s popular, there’s no shortage of kids, facilities, coaching, and many levels of regular competition, so it’s a high- participation sport. Are all the parents of all these kids in snow-sports countries around the world exposing their hapless youngsters to terrible risks? NO! PERCEPTION DOES NOT REFLECT REALITY when it comes to the dangers of ski jumping! The International Ski Federation (FIS) is the governing body for all snow sports worldwide. They meticulously track injuries for elite athletes in six disciplines. Ski jumping comes out as the SECOND SAFEST of all, with only cross-country ranking as safer. What’s the most dangerous? SNOWBOARDING!. This FIS report is no longer available online, but we’re trying to obtain a copy of it in PDF format. Know many parents who refuse to let their kids try snowboarding? Didn’t think so! Parents should be no more apprehensive about letting their kids try jumping than other snow sports. SO ... WHAT IF YOUR KID WANTS TO TRY IT??? If your kid, or the son or daughter of a friend or relative expresses an interest in ski jumping, look at it realistically. It is NOT the wild and crazy sport that’s been ingrained in the American mind. See what jumping looks like at beginner level ... KID VIDEO Frightening? Didn’t think so! If you live near a jumping facility, they’ll have coaches and a junior program. Kids start small ... on jumps “no bigger than a breadbox.” Think about when you were a kid. When you got your first pair of skis, and hadn’t even figured out yet how to turn or stop, didn’t you and the other kids build up a little jump in someone’s sloped back yard and try to see how far you could jump? Kids are HARD WIRED to do this ... and to want to do it! Start young, start small, start with coaching and parental supervision. It’s a great sport, it takes years to perfect the skills, and parental confidence will come along with seeing the development of their young athlete. Ski jumping and Nordic combined will never be mass participation sports here in the USA, but I’d like to think that in the future it might be just a bit easier to recruit kids to try it, and get THEIR PARENTS to even consider it. It won’t be for everybody, but it’s rewarding and exciting for those whose tiny taste of flight makes them want to continue. Thanks for your time in reading this. Look at our Regional Clubs page via link above, to find out where you can see jumpers of all ages in action. It’s amazing! In an effort to be honest, we must tell you ... if you hope to see crashes, you’ll be really bored. To read or print the full article ... CLICK HERE (PDF)

H I L L S I Z E, S C O R I N G, N O R D I C C O M B I N E D

Info to help you understand and enjoy ski jumping NC • How Do Hills Get “Rated” for Size? What’s a K90, K120, etc.? • How is Ski Jumping Scored? And What’s This About “Style Points” Anyway? • What is Nordic Combined? About Ski Jumping ... Hill Sizes and Scoring Explained Ski jumping is about flight, not height. It’s about how FAR you fly, and has nothing at all to do with height, either the height of the jump, or the height above the ground the skier appears in flight. Lots of photos are shot from ground level, shooting upwards with the sky as background, making it look like the jumper is flying high above the ground. This is misleading. The object of the sport is to stay in the air as long as possible, and the flight is measured from the point of takeoff to the point of landing. OK, you’re confused. Let’s explain. For example, the two hill sizes at the Olympics are referred to as “normal” (NH) and “large” (LH). The “par” distance on the NH is about 95 meters (312 feet). This can also be called a “K95” hill. It’s designed so good jumpers will fly that far ... or farther. A jumper gets 60 points for jumping to that spot, known as the K point. Jumpers get two points ADDED to the 60 point score for every meter they fly BEYOND the K point. They’ll LOSE 2 points for each meter they land short of K. The “par” distance on the large hill (LH) is about 125 meters (410 feet), which is often represented as K125. A jumper will get 60 points for flying that far, and 1.8 points per meter added or subtracted from their score for going beyond (or landing short of) the K point. There are judges, too, who can award up to 60 points per jump (20 points per judge) for good technique The term “style points” is a holdover from days gone by, when distances weren’t that great, and there was more emphasis on being “graceful” or “stylish.” They are more appropriately thought of today as TECHNIQUE points or, simply, JUDGE POINTS. Most really good jumpers get between 16 and 19 points for technique from each of 3 judges (there are 5 judges; high and low scores are discarded). Typically, a good jumper will probably get about 55 points per round from the judges, and about 65 points for flying a bit beyond the K point, or 120 points total per jump (distance points plus judge points). So, in a two-jump event, on ANY HILL, a score of 240 is good. The best jumpers will get many more points because they’ll fly far beyond the K point; the best often score near 300 points, and a few have scored up to about 320, because the distance points are unlimited. In reality, distance rules, but when distances are close, judge points become a tiebreaker. Disclaimer: FIS uses the term “hill size” (HS) to refer to the maximum safe distance. We do not use that term or that number in this discussion, because it’s confusing. Case in point ... Stefan Kraft of Austria holds the official record for the world's longest ski jump with 253.5 metres (832 ft), set on the ski flying hill in Vikersund, Norway in 2017. That hill is rated K-195 (what WE call “par”), with the FIS “hill size” (HS) rating at 225 meters. So the world record is more than 10% FURTHER than “hill size!” Confused yet? That “HS” number is useful to the competition jury. If jumpers start exceeding that distance, they may require using a lower start gate to reduce takeoff speed for the safety of the athletes. But ... since this is a definition of scoring, we stick with the the K- point ... the “par distance” which is the baseline for scoring. About Nordic Combined Where the Sports of Ski Jumping and Cross Country Racing are ... COMBINED! Nordic Combined athletes have to be good at ski jumping AND cross- country racing. They have a round of jumping to begin tradiditonal competitions. The jumping scores are calculated just like for regular ski jumping, then converted to a time differential for the start of a cross-country race. The athlete who jumps farthest is the first to start the race, and each athlete’s start time is some seconds (and fractions of seconds) behind the leader. Often the best jumpers aren’t the best racers, and vice versa, which makes for some thrilling finishes to the race portion. Why Do They Do This? These Sports Are So Different From Each Other? Historically, ski competitions were often multi-discipline. In fact, even into the 1950s and ‘60s, you’d occasionally hear of “skimeister” competitions that involved jumping, cross country, and two Alpine disciplines, slalom and downhill. Specialization took over, and now only Nordic Combined (jumping and XC), and biathlon (XC and shooting) survive as multi-discipline snow sports. The old “skimeister” competition was somewhat analogous to the pentathlon in track, which featured five events, and spotlighted all-around athletes. Decathlon, ten events, no skiing equivalent. The Amazing US Success in the 2010 Olympics, Vancouver The phenomenal success of the US Nordic Combined team at the 2010 Olympics burst into public consciousness with the amazing finish in the first NC event, where Johnny Spillane took the silver medal, Todd Lodwick finished 4th, and Billy Demong placed 6th. They then took silver in the team relay. To top it all off, Demong won gold and Spillane grabbed another silver in the LH/10K individual event. Never a US medal in 84 years of Olympic competition, and four of ‘em in Vancouver! In the interest of historical accuracy, we must point out that in recent years, a scoring calculation error was discovered that would have resulted in US athlete Anders Haugen being awarded a bronze medal at the first Winter Olympics, in 1924 at Chamonix FRA. He was recognized posthumously.