USASJ Story Project 30-Nov-13 CHARLIE SUPERCYNSKI

Henry Hanson, from the Twin Cities, flips in this undated photo.  Maybe the hardest part was getting down the inrun. CHARLIE SUPERCYNSKI President, Copper Peak, Inc. Ironwood, MI Early records show that ski jumpers performed somersaults off of ski jumps since as early as 1912.  These performances continued on various hills in the Midwest well into the 1950’s. Perhaps the most noted of the somersault artists was Henry Hanson from the Twin Cities area.  He relocated to the Ironwood area taking a job in sales but also skied for the Gogebic Range Ski Club.  He was a Class A jumper but continued to refine his specialty, a skill he learned from his father. I was able to witness his first somersault performed in Ironwood off a makeshift jump on the landing slope after the Wolverine Hill meet in 1948.  A year later he performed the stunt on the 60-meter Hill, the first time such a stunt was performed on a hill of that size.   He continued to perform the stunt on a number of hills in the Midwest and never suffered an injury.  In 1950 he signed up with a professional tour group headed by Anders Haugen and toured the country in exhibition.  The attached photo shows the aerialist performing his specialty; the venue is unknown.  ( I wonder it was more challenging to ride down the narrow inrun with no side rails than to perform the somersault.) Ski jumpers from Ironwood---and other Midwest clubs---regularly performed ‘twin jumps‘ (two skiers side by side), the ‘shooting star’ (four skiers following each other a short distance), the ‘diamond’ (one skier followed by two skiers side by side, then one) and on a number of occasions jumped through a ring of fire placed on the end of the take-off. The Zoberski brothers of Ironwood, Ted and John, often performed twin jumps in exhibition in the late 1930‘s.  What makes their performances stand out is the fact that they held hands throughout the entire ride whereas others---the Ruud Brothers for example---would diverge upon leaving the takeoff.  The attached photo of a twin jump is from the 1920’s, the names of the riders are not known. One other story stands out.  Ted and Chester Zoberski and Bert Wilcheck from Ironwood were touring the East Coast in the professional circuit; the year was 1934.  Ironwood lost its big hill (Curry) in a wind storm in 1930, the depression was on and these skiers were looking for a way earn some money in a sport they loved.  In 1934 in Chicopee, Mass., they were scheduled to ski in exhibition under the lights.  (I believe this is the first mention of skiing under the lights.) When the promoter pulled the switch to turn the power on, nothing happened.  No doubt the promoter experienced a bit of anxiety.  Chester Zoberski came to the rescue when he offered to ride the hill in the dark holding two flashlights.  He was given the two flashlights by the promoter and successfully rode the hill in the dark jumping about 170 feet, thus saving the day for the promoter.  Some years later Ted, for a generous gratuity, offered to perform the same stunt at Ishpeming; the Ishpeming Club did not oblige him. The Zoberski bros., from Ironwood, held hands in the air during their double jumps.

USASJ Story Project 29-Nov-13 DAN BEVINGTON

The 15m hill at the Karl Eid ski jumps in in Anchorage, AK.. DAN BEVINGTON Age 50 Anchorage, AK Norge Ski Club Three or four years ago, a five year old prospective jumper, Nicholas, was sitting alongside the take-off of the 15m hill with me at the Karl Eid Ski Jumps in Anchorage, Alaska.  It was a You-Try-It-Day at the hills so we were teeming with about 20 new kids flinging themselves off the jump.  Nicholas, lying back in the snow taking it all in, turned to me and said, "I have been dreaming of this my whole life."  I said, "Really Nicholas, how long have you been dreaming of ski jumping?"  He said, "I have been dreaming of this since I was TWO!"

USASJ Story Project 28-Nov-13 CHRISTIAN BERGGRAV

Christian Berggrav- always the stylist-  in Montreal Tribune coverage of the 1997 event in Salisbury, CT.

CHRISTIAN BERGGRAV
Dartmouth '78
Dartmouth Outing Club
Oslo, NOR

This is an old timer from Norway speaking. With lots of good old memories from my college years at Dartmouth (74'-78'), and later while at Grad School at UNH. I was back last fall visiting Dartmouth and the East. Travelling around in New England visiting some of the old hills in Berlin and Brattleboro, it was emotional, I must admit, to think back. I also happened to run into Jeff Hastings, and he kindly put me on the mailing list.

I want to share with you a special happening at the old hill in Salisbury, Conn back in 1977.

After the 2nd round we had the traditional "jump off". As the winner of the competition I was the last man to jump. Therefore, I was standing alone down on the lower start. I was jumping up and down to keep warm while holding around my skis. Suddenly, a loud crack was heard, and the tall Norwegian disappeared!. The old floor on the lower start was quite rotten, I fell through it like a rock in the air together with my skis. Not knowing what was underneath, I have never been as scared as at that particular moment. We always went up to the top along the side of the inrun and I didn't know there were stairways in the back. But very fortunately there was something underneath.. I fell down some 15-20 feet landing on the lower 'porch'.  Amazingly enough, neither myself nor my skis were hurt. I heard from above: "Jesus, where did he go?" After a couple of minutes of "finding myself" again, I could walk up to the top take my jump. Somewhat shaken and reserved, needless to say, but I came down OK just a meter short of a promising junior. Yes, Jeff  Hastings!  I remember later, that it was the first true indication of Jeff's potential to be seen a few years later.

To round off the story, enclosed you will see a true copy from the Montreal Star the following day. A nice one to have in a scrap book! Read  it carefully.., the people in Salisbury should be proud of having the world record (664m) well into the foreseeable future!

All the best to all you good old ski jumping friends!

USASJ Story Project 27-Nov-13 NENAD STEVANOVIC

Serbian record holder Nicola Stevanovic..  

NENAD STEVANOVIC
Age- 42
Smederevo, SERBIA

I am pioneering in ski jumping in Serbia about five years and more. I followed ski jumping about 30 years when as a kid in former Yugoslavia I saw legends Primoz Ulaga and Miran Tepes who took silver medal in (the team event in) Calgary 1988 Olympics. I had many idols from Finland especially Yari Puikkonen was first but the greatest is Janne Ahonen and he inspired me for doing this thing.
 
But history is too long to be said in this short format.
 
At the beginning ski jumping was dream in my childhood but nowadays it can be reality. I followed World Cup for ten years as journalist of different European sports media for several years. Every year I was on final ceremony in Slovenia on flying hill Planica. For five years I made many interviews with famous coaches and jumpers..for example Simon Ammann, Adam Malysz, Jakub Janda, Michael Uhrman, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern, Robert Kranjec, Wolfgang Leutzl, Severin Freund, Matti Hautamaki, Alex Pointner, Mika Kojonkosky, Goran Judez, Miran Tepes, Heinz Kutin etc…and of course with my idol Janne Ahonen.
 
I’m one of editors of our facebook page with comments, reportages and short reports from competitions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/47228330671/
 
That’s not all. I made by my own first little jumping hills k-10 for children exercises in winter conditions and also made by my own drawings 20 meter long roller for balance in flight. My son Nicola is first unofficial record holder for all categories in Serbian ski jumping with 8 meter jumps made this summer in Slovenia on plastic hills.
 
I’m his coach and we work in every conditions with different tools (skate, sticks, etc.) to make athletic preparations and ski jump techniques.
 
In 2012. I was in Lahti to meet again Janne Ahonen, who I met 2010 in Planica. For all years of his career I followed him…I can’t explain spiritual connection with him but its guided me through all these years- it’s something transcendent, something primarily from the soul.
But we couldn’t meet each other because of different reasons. Then I decide to make doctoral thesis in Sociology in Finland and to cross our paths again. And it will be. There is a strong connection that I can feel and that almost inspired me for doing unusual things. This connects all of us- it is nature of ski jumping.
 
I know from the beginning that it is a gift which tells me more about myself and connection with someone who inspires me. Our paths will cross again and we will speak again after Olympics 2014 somewhere in Finland and celebrate it on the same language.
 
My son has promising future and he is growing up with same purpose to reach the sky as Janne did and dedicate it to his father. It’s truly a life story.

USASJ Story Project- 26-Nov-13 PETER MIKKELSON

Pictured from left to right are; Scott Smith, Mike Holland, Anne, Jim Grahek, Mark Kinney, Yana, Mark Konopacke, Chris Hastings, Tony, Matt Petri.   PETER MIKKELSON Age:  69 From:  Westby, WI/Snowflake Ski Club Currently living:  Oceanside, CA Coached at the Air Force Academy and the Central Division top juniors 1982 I was asked to take some young skiers on a trip to Finland for the month of March.  10 days before leaving a letter was sent to the organizer of the first stop (No email or internet back then).  The trip started with us landing in Helsinki to find out that no one was there to pick us up (Slow mail took 10 days to arrive).  Made a phone call after a couple of hours waiting only to find out that Kouvola’s organizer was in Lathi for the big World Cup meet (crowd size 40,000).  They sent 3 taxis to bring us to Lathi so we could watch the famous Lathi World Cup competition.  We were treated extremely well everywhere we went in Finland.  Like anywhere there is ski jumping, the people are warm and friendly.  All the guys skied better in Finland than anytime during the winter here at home.  The first meet in Kouvola was at night in the middle of the week on a K90.  The field was large with the 4 best World Cup jumpers leading the pack along with many of Finland’s best, but Mark Konopacke flew into 5th place and Mike Holland 12th.  None of our guys skied poorly.  Next we went to Kuopio for a Saturday night meet (crowd size 20,000).  Don’t remember any results from Kuopio.  After Kuopio, we were on a bus to Kaustinen K60.   The organizers flew Matti Nykanen in for this meet.  Prize for 1st place was a Handmade Violin, Blue fox fur stole, and a trophy.  Chris Hastings won Junior Class and a trophy & aTV (which did not work when he got home) while Konopacke was 6th in senior class.  Onward to Rovaniemi and the Arctic Circle where they make first time visiting coaches drink reindeer blood laced with vodka.  What a party!!!  Another large field of world class jumpers with Konopacke placing 7th and Hastings 14th.  Picture on the right is Konopacke flying over the trees.  Our last stop was Kuusamo big K120.  Saturday night I loosened the reins on the guys and let them stay out as late as they wanted.  It seems that some thought keeping up drink for drink with the Finns would be easy.  Ha! Guess that did not work out too good as one of them told me the next day that he did not feel good enough to ski.  Told him that his way to Kuusamo was paid by the organizers, so he was going to ski no matter what.  We all had a great time in Finland.  Thanks for the terrific memories everyone because 58 years of my life is full of excitement, thrills, spills, love, & wonderful times due to this sport and the people involved as competitors, coaches, organizers, and spectators.

USASJ Story Project 25-Nov-13 MARTY HALL

Standing Left to right---Phil Wheeler, Dick Taylor, Bill Purcell, Fran Noel, Don Stephenson, Roger Dion, Joe Pete Wilson, Coach Claude Richer  Kneeling-Gene Boisvert, and Marty Hall

MARTY HALL
GILFORD OUTING CLUB
DURHAM, NH

I moved into Gilford, NH just after WW II(1946), along with many other families who were leaving the cities for the best of country living. I was 8 years old and it wasn't more than a few months  and the first snows were upon us and out the door we were skiing all over the place. Jumping was a natural and I had a night jump (light from the kitchen window) in my back yard---maximum jump 11- 15 ft. We built jumps everywhere and as we got braver finally put in a monster in the local sand pit---good for 40 ft. After school every afternoon it was onto our skis and out into the woods until dark.
 
Soon, Gary Allen, graduate from Dartmouth and a pilot for Pan Am Airlines, organized us, along with the other fathers, into the Gilford Outing Club and we became a part of an organized jumping program at Gunstock, There were 3 jumps in the beginning, a 10 m, 20 m and a 60 meter---a 40 would be introduced in a few more years. At this time we had only one pair of skis for everything we did.
 
Every year the 60 meter along with all the other big jumps in the East had a formal jumping competition, with thousands in attendance, and all the stars of jumping from the US and Canada, and sometimes a few Europeans. It was a big deal!!   After the competition this one year, all of us young guys were all at the village store, as we were every year, as the jumpers would stop here for gas and food, before the long drive home. Well, somehow in the conversation, one of the jumpers from Rumford had broken a jumping ski in the tip and had it for sale at $5. I said I would take them, but would have to run home, about 5-10 minutes, to get the $5-----ran all the way with my fingers crossed, that they wouldn't leave and that my parents had the $5---$5 was a fair piece of change in those days. My parents came through-----you talk about a young boy---and his first pair of "REAL" jumping skis. They may have gone to bed with me that night!