Men’s World Cup Ski Jumping Season Begins in Ruka Nov 22-24 2019-20 season opener returns to traditional venue in Finland It’s that time again … the first event of the snow season will begin on the big hill in Ruka FIN on the weekend of November 22-24. Qualification for the starting field of 50 jumpers will be held on Friday. The four-man team competition is scheduled for Saturday, with the individual event on Sunday. This will be the first look at the best athletes from all the countries that compete in the highest level of international ski jumping. Please note the links above … click the USA Nordic logo to access the US national ski jumping and Nordic combined teams. The “click here” link below the FIS Ski Jumping logo will bring you to the FIS ski jumping calendar, and the similar link below the FIS Nordic Combined logo will bring you to the FIS Nordic Combined calendar. International Nordic Combined Festival in Park City Dec 13-15 Tara Geraghty-Moats and Taylor Fletcher will lead US teams in three days of action The first competitions of the season for the US Men’s and Women’s Nordic Combined teams will be held in Park City UT on the weekend of December 13-15. Full information on the weekend’s activities can be found on the USA Nordic website. FIS Men’s Continental Cup Feb 15- 16 in Iron Mountain MI Only annual FIS Continental Cup in USA … flights can exceed 140 meters (460+ feet) The Kiwanis Ski Club has announced the dates for the 2020 tournament, and will soon have online purchasing set up for admission buttons. The field will include teams from at least a dozen nations, and it’s the only big-hill tournament each year in North America. Iron Mountain is an easy two hour drive N of Green Bay, under 6 hours N of Chicago, and about 6 hours ENE of the Twin Cities. See the Kiwanis Ski Club website for further information.

Crowd photo from hot air balloon Saturday Feb 9, 2019. Taken by Don Dumke from hot air balloon. Click to enlarge image

A R C H I V E - H I G H L I G H T S Stories previously published on front page Nita Englund 21st in Zao JPN World Cup Sun Jan 20 Highlights of FIS World Cup and Continental Cup action for weekend of Jan 18-20 FIS Ski Jumping • Zao JPN Women’s World Cup Results: Fri 01/18 Sat 01/19 Sun 01/20 -Fri: Nita Englund 30th, Nina Lussi 39th, Tara Geraghty-Moats 43rd, Logan Sankey 48th -Sat: Germany wins team event, Austria 2nd, Japan 3rd, USA 7th -Sun: Englund 21st, Lussi 36th, Geraghty-Moats 40th, Sankey 43rd • Zakopane POL Men’s World Cup Results: Sat 01/19 Sun 01/20 -Sat: Germany, Austria, Poland 1-2-3 in 4-man Team competition -Sun: Stefan Kraft (AUT), Robert Johansson (NOR), Yukiya Sato (JPN) • Sapporo JPN Men’s Continental Cup Results: 1/18 - 1/20 (score links unavailable) -Fri: Casey Larson 26th, Andrew Urlaub 29th, Decker Dean 33rd -Sat: Larson 37th, Urlaub 38th, Dean 42nd -Sun: Larson 32nd, Urlaub 40th, Dean 41st • Planica SLO Women’s Continental Cup NH Results: Sat 01/19 Sun 01/20 -Sat: Annika Belshaw 31st, Anna Hoffman 35th, Paige Jones 36th, Samantha Macuga 37th -Sun: Hoffman 32nd, Belshaw 33rd, Macuga 34th, Jones 35th FIS Nordic Combined (you’ll need to use drop list on page to get results; defaults to start list) • Jan 17-20 Chaux Neuve FRA Men’s World Cup Results: Fri 01/18 Sat 01/19 Sun 01/20 -Fri: Taylor Fletcher 36th, Ben Loomis 49th, Jasper Good 50th, Grant Andrews 52nd -Sat: Fletcher 29th, Loomis 48th, Good 50th -Sun: Fletcher 28th Taylor Fletcher 20th in WC, Jared Shumate 10th in COC Highlights of FIS action for weekend of Jan 10-13 Ski Jumping • Sapporo JPN Women’s World Cup - LH Results: Sat 01/12 Sun 01/13 -Sat: Iraschko-Stolz, Seyfarth, Lundby Sun: Lundby, Althaus, Seyfarth • Val di Fiemme ITA Men’s World Cup - LH Results: Sat 01/12 Sun 01/13 -Sat: Kobayashi, Kubacki, Stoch Sun: Kubacki, Kraft, Stoch (Kobayashi 7th) • Bischofshofen AUT Men’s Continental Cup - NH Sat 01/12 (1) Sat 01/12 (2) -Saturday (1): Aigner, Jelar, Hoffman Saturday (2): Jelar, Aigner, Freund Nordic Combined - Taylor Fletcher 20th in Val di Fiemme, Jared Shumate 10th in Ruka • Val di Fiemme ITA Men’s World Cup Results: Fri 01/11 Sat 01/12 Fri 01/13 -Fri: T Fletcher starts 41st races to 20th Sat: US team 10th Sun: T Fletcher 30th • Ruka FIN Men’s Continental Cup Results: Fri 01/11 Sat 01/12 -Fri: 10th, Ledger 31st, Andrews 32nd Sat: Shumate 16th, Andrews 27th Tara Geraghty-Moats Undefeated in World Cup NC! TGM featured in NYT article on women’s NC - CLICK HERE Article in FasterSkier - CLICK HERE • Otepaa EST Continental Cup Women Results: Sat 01/05 Sun 01/06 -Tara doubles up in Estonia, five straight wins! (read FIS article) • Otepaa EST World Cup Men Results Sat 01/05 Sun 01/06 - Americans: T Fletcher 30th Saturday, 19th Sunday, B Loomis 38th, 34th • Klingenthal GER Conti Cup Men Results: Fri 01/04 Sat 01/05 - Norway’s Jens Oftebro wins Americans: G Andrews 40th, B Ledger 58th • Val di Fiemme ITA Jan 10-13 World Cup Men • Ruka FIN Jan 11-13 Conti Cup Men - (for full January sched/results, also Feb & Mar, click links below NC logo at top of page Ryoyu Kobayashi Achieves Sweep in 4-Hills Tourney! Japan’s star continues his dominance in this year’s World Cup Read about 4-Hills at USA Nordic • Oberstdorf GER Results: Sat 12/29 quali Sun 12/30 - Kobayashi (JPN) wins, Eisenbichler (GER) 2nd, Kraft (AUT) 3rd • Garmisch-Partenkirchen GER Results: Mon 12/31 quali Tues 01/01 - Kobayashi wins, Eisenbichler 2nd, Kubacki (POL) 3rd, Bickner (USA) 37th • Innsbruck AUT Results: Thurs 01/03 quali Fri 01/04 - Kobayashi gets third win, Kraft 2nd, Stjernen (NOR) 3rd • Bischofshofen AUT Results: Sun 01/06 quali (postponed from Sat) Sun 01/06 - Kobayashi completes his sweep of all four events in this year’s Four Hills Tourney! Taylor Fletcher Scores Big NC Win on Thurs Dec 19 Tara Geraghty-Moats dominates on Wednesday, sidelined with a cold on Thursday • Thurs - men’s NC click Taylor Fletcher WINS by 23 seconds! • Thurs - women’s NC click Canadian Taylor Henrich 3rd, TGM sidelined • Thurs - men’s jumping click Casey Larson on podium again • Thurs - women’s jumping click Canadians 1- 2-3-4, Belshaw 5th, Jones 6th, Sankey 7th Tara Wins Park City NC Wed Dec 19, Taylor Fletcher 4th Three wins in a row for TGM! Fletcher just misses podium, only 2 sec behind winner • Wed - men’s NC click Taylor Fletcher 4th, only 2 sec behind winner • Wed - women’s NC click Tara Geraghty-Moats WINS, 3rd in a row! • Wed - men’s jumping click Casey Larson on podium in 3rd • Wed - women’s jumping click Canadians 1- 2-3, Belshaw 4th, Sankey 5th, Jones 6th Undefeated! Tara was 3rd in the jump round, behind Jenny Nowak of Germany and Taylor Henrich of Canada. Henrich started 20 sec behind Nowak, and TGM was back 55 sec. She flew past the two who started ahead of her, and took first, 13.7 ahead of Nowak, who crossed the finish line 1.1 sec ahead of Henrich! The men’s competition provided an incredibly close finish. Italy’s Lukas Runggaldier won, with three skiers breathing down his neck; he finished just 1.4 seconds ahead of Austria’s Paul Gerstgraser. Julian Schmid of Germany was .3 back, and American Taylor Fletcher trailed by another .3 sec. After 10km of racing, the top four finished within two seconds. The top 8 were within a half minute of each other. Tara Geraghty-Moats Double Winner in Steamboat NC; Taylor Fletcher Wins Friday, Close Second Saturday Tara tops podium TWICE in historic Nordic Combined for women Results: Fri 12/14 Sat 12/15 Taylor wins Friday, 2nd Saturday, 1.3 sec behind winner, started 1:20 back: Fri 12/14 Sat 12/15 On Friday, Tara scored a decisive win in the women’s jump round (which established the order at the start of the 5km race), so she started first and ran away to win by 45 seconds over Norwegian Gyda Westvold Hansen. Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova was 3rd. Other Americans were Annika Malacinski in 7th and Tess Arnone in 8th. Also on Friday, Taylor was 11th in the men’s jump round, so he started 11th in the 10 kmrace, giving up - 1:03 to the leader at the start, Austria’s Bernhard Flaschberger. Taylor ran the second-fastest race, finishing 15 seconds ahead of another Austrian, Paul Gerstgraser, who was 16 seconds ahead of Flaschberger, who finished 3rd. Jared Shumate (USA) was 7th, Jasper Good 9th, Ben Loomis 13th, Ben Berend 15th, Grant Andrews 24th, Beckett Ledger 34th, Bennett Gamber 41st, Aidan Ripp 42nd. On Saturday, Tara started 4th, with a 26 second deficit after placing 4th in the jump round (which was won by Westvold Hansen). Tara blasted her way past the three who started before her, finishing 40 seconds ahead of Westvold Hansen to complete a historic double victory in the first-ever weekend of Continental Cup Nordic Combined for women. Veronica Gianmoena of Italy placed 3rd. Arnone was 7th and Malacinski 9th. Congratulations to Tara, Tess, and Annika! In men’s action on Saturday, Taylor placed 30th in the jump round, putting him 1:20 behind the leader at the start of the race. He passed 28 other racers, finishing 1.3 sec behind the winner, Gerstgraser. Norway’s Lars Buraas was 3rd. Shumate was 6th, Good 8th, Loomis 10th, Berend 19th, Andrews 28th, Ledger 36th, Erik Lynch 41st, Evan Nichols 46th, and Henry Johnstone 48th. Congratulations, Taylor and US Nordic teammates! Salt Lake City Chosen for Next US Olympics Bid • Read about it at these links: USOC KSL-TV NBC Sports Deseret News Bickner 5th, Boyd-Clowes 6th in Lillehammer CoC Dec 8 Banner day for pair of North Americans … RESULTS Sun 12/8 FB video of Kevin in flight It was a great day for a pair of North Americans in Continental Cup action in Lillehammer NOR on December 8. Kevin Bickner (USA) placed 5th, and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes (CAN) 6th on the large hill. Norway’s Marius Lindvik took his second win of the weekend, ahead of Germany’s Constantin Schmid and Austria’s Markus Schiffner. Poland’s Alexander Zniszczol was 4th. Bickner flew 139.5 and 137.5 meters, scoring 256.9 points. Boyd-Clowes 132 and 134.5, good for 251.4 points. This is the best finish for a pair of North Americans in recent memory, and a good sign of things to come during this season!

Romina Eggert photo CLICK to ENLARGE

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.