 |
| Chris Lamb in flight. |
STORY No. 68
CHRIS LAMB
Age 23
Andover, NH
Andover Outing Club
The winter we spent living in
Bad-Mitterndorf Austria consisted of some of my fondest memories as a ski
jumper so far. We all have some funny stories from that winter, and frequently
reminisce about the good times we shared. We were blessed with a character of a
coach who was well known in the town, which allowed us to become pretty
familiar with some of the locals. Ernie (our coach) would drive us around town
to all the “hot spots” so we could mingle with his friends. We got out to some
pretty interesting places, and met some very entertaining folks.
 |
| Lamb & coach Ernie with colorful Bad Mitterndorf local. |
Some of us spent more time living in
that apartment than others, and I am pretty sure I was ranked among the top two
for hours spent in Bad-Mitterndorf. If you spent any time in Bad-Mitterndorf
you were bound to have at least one awkward or funny experience. Blake Hughes,
Anders Johnson, Nick Alexander, and I had the pleasure of spending the
Christmas holiday at our apartment. It was our first Christmas away from home,
and we were all pretty excited about bringing on the Christmas spirit that
year. A few days before Christmas, Anders, Blake and I were sitting around
watching some Christmas movies, and maybe having a few beers, when we decided
we needed to get a tree for our apartment. We did not want to buy a tree, so we
decided we could find our Christmas tree somewhere in the woods behind our
place. We grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen, and headed into the night. It
took us a while to find our tree, but when we did I believe Anders was the saw
master. I will never forget the three of us out there on our hunt for the
Christmas tree. Laughing hysterically as Anders hacked down that spruce tree
with a dull steak knife. It was a priceless moment, and one I am proud to have
been a part of. We set up an impressive Christmas tree, and took some of our
decorations from another tree set up in the hall of the apartment building. We
all got each other some kind of funny gift, and made a good effort to have a
proper Christmas.
 |
| Lamb's Bad Mitterndorf Christmas tree. |
Another special moment came later on
in the season when Anders, Nick Fairall, and I took our first ski flying jumps
in our “back yard” The world cup ski flying event took place just five minutes
down the road. Because we had to drive at least 45 minutes for any kind of
jumping that season, the day we got to jump the hill sitting right outside the
door was very cool. I was a trial jumper, and set my personal best distance at
191 meters. I got to watch Nick and Anders compete in the world cup, and root
on my childhood buddy as he scored his first World Cup points in two impressive
competitions.
No comments:
Post a Comment