USASJ Story Project- Dec 29 SEVERSON

Kris Severson (R) now produces sports and music events live and for TV.  Shown here producing the jump venue in Vancouver 2010 with announcer Chris Hastings (L) (Story No 53). .  Kris, you may recall, was the subject of Story No. 17.

STORY No. 76
KRIS SEVERSON

Age 44

Park City, UT

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

CHAMP SIGHTINGS

1987.  The arrangement was for Jeff Hastings (then jump coach of the NC team) to pick me up at the Burlington airport. From there we would ride up to Lake Placid beginning our three week tour of the New England Circuit. These were not premier events. They were no World Cup Events or even Continental Cups or Europa Cups. This was a consolation prize at best. A small domestic series of events for young athletes on the rise or old athletes fading into the sunsets of their careers. For me, the only brightening on my horizon was the possibility of a little debauchery. Take a few jumps, drink a few beers, and meet a few girls…

               

“Get in, warm up. I’ll take care of these.” Jeff said, always the gentleman.  I sank into the passenger seat of the Subaru, which was about the only means of support the ski team offered me now. I was a leftover. An afterthought. I had not performed well in Europe and was sent back to the States to “regain some confidence.” I was tired from the endless avenue of ground transportation, international flights, baggage claims and hotel rooms. The constant motion had left my head a buzz.  As we left I tipped my head back and thought of a place where all stood still. We traveled southward along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, crossed the lake at Port Henry Bridge and entered upstate New York. While I faded in and out Jeff spoke of adventures on the road, skiing, his conquests and near misses. I occasionally pressed him for any information or coaching tips he could offer to help unravel the mystery that was ski jumping for me at that time.  But he was evasive as a rabbit in dressing-off day. 

Nighttime had fallen and the drizzling sleet of the day turned to a wispy snowfall. It was not enough to accumulate on the ground but the visibility had decreased and the snow began sticking to the windshield. We passed through the small lakeside towns with their white, wooden homes and slowly dying Main Streets. Each town had its own gas station/mini-mart/video rental/deli on its outskirts. They also had their own similar multifunctional snowmobile/junk yard/small engine repair shop.  I must have fallen asleep, for as the car came to a skidding stop, I was thrust out of my dreams and into the reality of the moment. 

“What?” I screamed. “Deer?”
“No, no. Nothing like that,” he said. “Something better.”

He climbed out of the car leaving the door open. Ahead, illuminated by our car’s headlamps was a hand painted wooden roadside sign that read:

Port Henry: Home of Champ

Champ Sightings

Listed below was a long row of names and dates of those who claimed to have seen the mythical Loch Ness-type monster believed to live in Lake Champlain. Jeff knelt before it like an altar boy in the falling snow. I got out of the car and joined him.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’ve driven by this thing for more than 20 years and always wanted to do this,” he said. In his hand was a jar of white paint and a small brush. He leaned forward and daintily finished his work. At the bottom of the list of names, in dripping handwritten letters, read:

J. Hastings 6-25-59

 “You’ve never seen Champ, have you?” I asked him.

 “No, but neither has anyone else on this list,” he said standing up and admiring his work. “Do you want to be immortalized?”

He handed me the paint, and I placed my name below his.

K. Severson 1-1-68

I eventually did regain my confidence and went on to ski a number of years on the World Cup team.  And a few years ago Jeff emailed me the photo below.  It's of the new sign in Port Henry!  The town just pulled the names and sighting dates from the old sign and Jeff and I are now "officially" on the list in the same paint and font as the rest!  We re-wrote history that night.  Literally.

Jeff pointing to names on the updated Port Henry Champ sighting list.