USANS Story Project 31-DEC-2015 JAY RAND

LEARNING FROM THE BEST-  (L-R) Then Norwood teacher, Larry Stone with his student athletes Jay Rand and Ulf Kvendbo.  Both Rand and Kvendbo would compete the next year in the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, Jay (at 17) for USA and Ulf (at 19) for Canada.  Ulf would also compete in the 1972 Olympics.

JAY RAND

Lake Placid, NY

Northwood School, University of CO, US Ski Team, 1968 Olympic Team

jayr@nysef.org

Homeward Bound- The Odyssey of the Salisbury to Lake Placid Journey

A very memorable trip home from Salisbury to Lake Placid took place following the 1967 Annual Eastern Championships. It will forever be etched in my mind!

At that time I was attending Northwood School along with my close friend and jumping teammate Ulf Kvendbo, who was a member of the Canadian Olympic Team. Tragically, Ulf passed on a few years ago, but will forever have a place in my thoughts, and I’m sure he is fondly remembered by many of you jumpers who knew him. Ulf and I were fortunate to have our good friend, teacher and coach – Larry Stone (Stoney) guiding us through the very memorable high school years.

As a sidebar, Stoney had a free period prior to his Shakespeare class, which Ulf and I were happily a part of. Very often Stoney would try and use his free period to get a few practice jumps in at Intervale. Sometimes he would get back just in the nick of time for class. The classroom happened to be on the second level and could be accessed by a fire escape system. More than once we would lock the windows just as he got to the access platform so he couldn’t get in. Down the stairs he would fly mumbling something in an unknown language. Somehow we did manage to pass the class, but Ulf and I thought it was only because he didn’t want us to have to retake the class again the following year. (In all due respect Stoney was an excellent teacher and we learned quite a bit that year.)

In any case, as always, we had a great weekend of jumping at Salisbury even though it had been extremely frigid. Little did we know that the trip home would provide us with a new meaning of the word cold! I can still remember that the temperatures were predicted to drop to -30 degrees that evening. Following the awards and banquet, which I believe were at the Town Hall, we grabbed our bags from the White Hart Inn and boarded our luxurious carriage, a mini Volkswagen,  which possessed a great deal of personality and charisma, but lacked what was needed most that night - a working heater. Ulf was a pretty big guy so I packed myself into the back seat with most of the luggage and he rode shotgun. Off we went with three pair of jumping skis tied tightly on to the back, sticking high above the roof like gigantic antennas, which gave new meaning to the name of the VW Bug.

OK, nothing could possibly make the situation more uncomfortable right? Wrong – Carbon monoxide fumes were pretty strong so we had to roll down the windows which, of course, added a slight wind chill factor of seemingly 100 below zero at the time.  I can still see Coach Stone furiously scraping the inside of the windshield while trying to stay on the road. It was probably good that even when maxed out the speedometer never went above 60MPH. (Although that may not have been accurate either.)

Anyway about four hours later we arrived in Keene Valley dressed in full winter gear including hat and goggles covered with frost and barely able to move with only a bit over 20 miles to go. By then no one had much feeling anywhere from head to toe. The radio didn’t work and even Coach Stone’s humming of Rolling Stones tunes (no pun intended) had ceased.

We are almost home I thought, or are we? What was that glowing red warning light that had mysteriously appeared and what was that new hot smell. Yup – it was the engine warning light telling us that the Bug needed oil pronto! It was about 1am so no gas stations were open. What to do?

Not to panic, Coach Stoney mumbled, I’ve been here before and always carry a few extra quarts for emergencies. 10w30 that is! That’s great, Ulf and I both chattered, but then reality struck again. The engine was in the back and the skis were all tied firmly to the cover of it. Honestly, I don’t recall if it was a rack of sorts, but I do recall that we had a hell of a time getting them off with numb fingers. We actually just ended up cutting them with a knife, and it was easier to just open the sun roof and stick the skis through it so that is how we finished the journey -30 degrees, windows and now sun roof open. With winds whistling through our hair we drove down Main Street in Lake Placid feeling no pain and for that matter not much of anything – and that’s how it happened – the true odyssey of the Salisbury to Lake Placid journey by Coach Stone, Jay Rand and the late Ulf Kvendbo.

Ulf Kvendbo from the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble.

Jay Rand (center row, 7th from left) in a Lake Placid Ski Club team photo from around 1960.

DUCKING THE ROPE.  In March 2014 Whiteface Mt.opened a new run named in Jay's honor.

EDITOR'S NOTES
To see Ulf Kvendbo's Olympic bio- CLICK HERE
To see Jay Rand's Olympic bio- CLICK HERE

USANS Story Project 30-DEC-2015 JEFF HASTINGS

IF YOU CAN'T BE GOOD, BE DIFFERENT.  The Obertsdorf Boys Choir-  (L-R) Reed Zeuhlke, Jeff Hastings, John Broman, and Jon Denney at the 1981-82 4-Hills Springer Tournee.  

The 4-Hills Springer Tournee opened yesterday in Obertsdorf GER… and today former USST head coach Greg Windsperger will be celebrating a birthday.  Since 1981 these two events have usually fallen on the same day and always been knotted together for me- a happy pairing.

John Broman, Jon Denney, Reed Zuehlke and I represented the USA in the 81-82 Tournee.  We were joined by a journalist, Paul Robbins, who was newly hired by the US Ski Team to make sure the world heard our story.  But he’s another story and as it turned out there wasn’t much good news on that trip so Paul spent most of his time trying to goad us out of pouting or teaching us proper use of the words “good” (not an adverb) and “well” (an adverb that could be used to modify the verb “jump,” something we were not doing very good… or well, either).

It was our first international competition of the season so we were not yet fully aware of the ass kicking we’d be receiving though it was pretty clear that the Obertsdorf organizers were, as reflected in our hotel assignment (a dingy place outside the village) and the company they booked with us (the Hungarians- who frankly seemed thrilled to be invited to the party at all, an attitude we would have done well to adopt).  Where is Gabor Geller today, I wonder?  He was wonderful.  Anyway- driven by an urgent need to express ourselves as something more than the dullards our hosts saw in us, it was decided that we would surprise Greg - NAY! We would surprise the entire international ski jumping community! - by singing happy birthday over the PA before the first round.

There was still a lot of innocence in that age and the Tournee far less developed.  The Obertsdorf venue now seats tens of thousands in permanent grandstands, but in 1981 the outrun was a hay field defined by posts and ropes.  Which is to say that with the help of Paul Robbins and his press credential we had no problem gaining access to the judges tower and finding a live microphone to blast out a hearty version of the Happy Birthday song which ironically, even in Europe, is sung in English.  It was, as it turned out, both the emotional and athletic high point of the trip.

I would return to the Tournee the following two years and, with different combinations of teammates, sing Happy Birthday over the PA.  What had felt incredibly mischievous and irreverent in 1981 was pretty much written into the program by 1983.  We were heartily welcomed into the judges stand and ushered to a waiting microphone.  Was there an oompah band playing back up?  Seems entirely possible.  And by 1983-84, thanks to the direction of Greg and fellow coaches Erling Rimeslaaten, Timo Denisson, and Rex Bell, and the hard work of athletes, our singing was no longer the greatest talent we brought to Obertsdorf.  Eight members of that US team had scored world cup points (top 15) the season before.  Which (together with our singing?) had earned us far better accommodations in the village.  

So- to Greg- happy birthday!  In my heart I still sing to you from that judges’ stand every December 30^th.  And to Erling, Rex, Timo, along with my father Paul Hastings and other great coaches Bud Fisher, Don Cutter, Bruce Jennings, Dave Bradley, Bob Stone, Bill and Peter Robes, George Merrill, Elmer Fulton, Bernie Dion and I’m sure many others whose names escape me but whose impact has not- thank you.

SUNNIER DAYS- (L-R) Windsperger, Broman, Hastings

BEFORE SIRI.  Windsperger (deft at building a team but not map reading) asking for directions in god-knows-where (Eastern?) Europe. 

BEARER OF THE PRESS CREDENTIAL-  Journalist and member of the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, Paul Robbins in what looks like Innsbruck 1984.

EDITOR'S NOTE
Paul Robbins was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2009-  To see his USSSHoF bio, CLICK HERE

USANS Story Project 29 DEC 2015 JOHN CONLEY

LIVING TO TELL THE TALE.  John Conley survived his first competition on the K48 in Lake Placid (and many more).

JOHN CONLEY

Lebanon, Outing Club

Barrington, RI

johncconley@msn.com

As best as I can remember the year was 1988 or 89. I had been diagnosed with a large malignant melanoma, and was advised to get my affairs in order. At the same time, my mother had colon cancer that had made it to her liver. I set out to prove to myself that I was invincible. Diving in the Cape Cod Canal, at night, alone. Swimming through 6 foot seas, again at night, by myself. Flying a plane. Racing the masters downhill, a real downhill, at 70 miles an hour, which brings me to my story.

I am in Lake Placid for a masters downhill at Whiteface. I come upon a brochure for some events in LP.  One of those events was ski jumping. Hmmm, my next big adventure? I managed to get the phone number for the jump complex, and reached Larry Stone, “Sure, come on up” was his reply. I head up to Lake Placid with my girlfriend and some other friends. They were betting on which bones I would break first. From the moment I left home, I was determined to jump the K48, which at the time was still being called a 40. I drive to the hill, find Larry, who tells me the boots are over there, some jump skis over there and so on. Day 1, 7 or 8 jumps on the k18.  All goes well.  Day 2 I head over to the 40.  At the time, there was a second jump with its own trestle, attached to the 40, referred to as a 30. Not being a complete idiot, I try to ride the 30. I go to the top and find myself saying
I do believe in spooks, I do, I do. Down the inrun, land on the 13 meter mark, and down the hill. Still alive. Let’s get the hell out of here.

I was living in New Jersey at the time, which was 7 hours away, so I never thought that I would jump again.  Then I moved to Rhode Island.  That’s part 2.

BUSTING A MOVE.  John Conley in the early days.

Photo from John-  this was the emergency room x-ray after he told his girl-friend he wanted to try ski jumping.

Photo from John- this was the reaction from the daughter of one of the judges when she saw John jump in his first competition in Lake Placid.

WORTH IT IN THE END- John Conley (R and 3rd place) with fellow masters, Jon Farnham (L and 2nd place) and Dan Brown (center and victor) on the podium at the 2013 National Masters Championships on the Lebanon NH K25.  

USANS Story Project 28-DEC-2015 BILL CANTLIN (for BERNIE DION)

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS- Photo and caption from the local paper, the Valley News in 1970.  After retiring from jumping, Bernie coached literally hundreds of kids from around NH and VT through the Lebanon Outing Club.  Clipping thanks to Walter Malmquist, a Dion disciple.

BILL CANTLIN
Thornton, NH
Lebanon Outing Club, Dartmouth Ski Team, US Ski Team

bcantlin.wv@gmail.com

REMEMBERING BERNIE DION, Lebanon, NH
(if you grew up in Lebanon you are always from Lebanon)

On July 7, 2015 the jumping community lost Bernie Dion who was first a great jumper, then coach and judge, and always a supporter of everything ski jumping.

He started jumping at a very early age and was a stand out from the beginning. He was one of the best ski jumpers in the country when he won the Brattleboro Harris Hill tournament in 1959 at the age of 17. Unfortunately, the next year he broke his neck at Squaw Valley before the 1960 Olympics. Fortunately he wasn’t paralyzed.

In 1966 he was working on a “come back” at Harris Hill. During the competition he took a deep telemark, dug his knee into the landing hill, and was pitched forward.  Landing with arms extended, he broke both wrists. It was double bad luck for Bernie because he was a barber and he couldn’t work. As it turned out, it was good luck for a couple of jumpers who were going to Winter Park for the Junior Nationals later that year. Bernie picked us up every day after school for a couple of weeks and took us to the jump at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH which was a great all natural jump build, almost single-handedly, by Ike Townsend. Bernie said the KUA jump was very similar to the jump in Winter Park and we found that it was. Sadly, both jumping complexes are now gone.

Bernie was far and away the best technical coach these jumpers would ever have.  He knew the nuances. He taught head position, the importance of relaxed shoulders, where to place your hands for the best points, how to drive from your toes, and how to transition from flight position to telemark. And he always wanted the jumper to learn how to land at the bottom of the hill. Those trips to KUA were very special, defined Bernie, and became the foundation of a lifelong friendship.

Bernie went on to become a coach and advocate for junior jumpers in the East. He touched, in some way, every eastern junior jumper for decades and had a positive impact on the lives of scores and scores of kids.

He distinguished himself as a FIS judge and was a judge at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid and he was helping rebuild the jumps and the jumping community at Gunstock when he died.

He was a living definition of a lifelong ski jumper.

Another photo from the Valley News- this one from 1971 capturing Bernie announcing at the last tournament of the year, usually held in mid-March. and affectionately called the Mud Meet which sometimes describes the hill and always describes the parking lot.  Again, thanks to Walter Malmquist for the clipping.

THE ORIGINAL RING of FIRE.  If Bernie didn't start the Ring of Fire tradition at Lebanon Outing Club, he certainly perpetuated and perfected it.   It remains the highlight of every Mud Meet and a sure cure for jumping early.  Photo above shows Lebanon skier, Chris Baker taking the Olympic torch (which was run through Lebanon NH prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Games) off the Lebanon K25.

FLAPPING & FLYING- Bernie headed to the bottom on Gunstock's hill in Gilford, NH.  Thanks to Carol Anderson and Bernie Dion Jr for the photo.

RESTING BUT STILL FLYING.    Thanks to Bernie Dion Jr for the photo.

USANS Story Project 27-DEC-2015 NILS STOLZLECHNER

TAKING IT TO NORWAY.  US ski jumpers (L-R) Mike Holland, Mark Konopacke, Ricky Mewborn, and Nils Stolzlechner finished 5th in the team event at the 1985 World Championships in Seefeld ,Austria.  Ahead of Norway! 

NILS STOLZLECHNER

Kitzbuhel, AUT/Sun Valley, ID

Chicago, IL
nils@njsdesigns.org

We Who Laughed Last

We all have memories of the “loudmouth” reporters that praise their nation’s athletes and rub in any and all wins when they get a chance. What our team accomplished in 1985, even 31 years after it happened, still makes me proud. 

During the 1985 World Championships we were staying at the Holiday Inn in Innsbruck. The entire Norwegian press stayed at our hotel and we had this breakfast room with a really nice buffet spread. Pretty much every morning we would run into this one particular reporter from Norway’s largest newspaper, VG. For some reason he targeted Mark Konopacke and asked “how it went for the Americans” with his singing Norwegian accent. After the Norwegian reporter asked the question he always was quick to add that the day had gone very, very well for Norway. On most days someone from that cold but cool nation won a medal. This all went on for about 10 days. On the final day of the event, at this time one of the best World Championships in Norway’s history, the reporters were confident of another medal at the team ski jumping event. At breakfast the VG reporter once again tracked us down, asked us how it went for us and told us that Norway had won two more medals the day before. He then took the time to wish us good luck at the team event and that he would later celebrate the next medal sure to be won by the Norwegians in this event.

Remembering the competition it was a warm and windy day at Berg Isel. The gusty winds came from behind and the inrun was slushy and slow. Ron Richards from Canada had a bad fall in the second round, tumbling down the landing hill and coming to rest about two feet away from the first aid station. He ended up needing knee surgery but other than that he was as always in great spirits. Rick Mewborn, Mark Konopacke, Mike Holland and I all had decent jumps and at the very end the score board showed us in 5^th position.  Finland with Matti Nykaenen won, Austria came in second and the DDR (East Germany) took third place. A close forth was Czechoslovakia and then in 5^th place Team USA. Japan rounded off the top 6. At the end of the event the organizers told Greg Windsperger, our head coach, that we needed to be present at the medal ceremonies that where held in Seefeld, about 45 minutes from our hotel.  We needed to change and were in a hurry to get to the awards. All of us were in the hotel’s elevator when the doors opened and that Norwegian VG reporter came in. Mark Konopacke had a big grin on his face, and asked the reporter how his day went.  The reporter just stared at Mark, who then told him that we placed 5^th in the team event and then Mark dropped the classic line “ It was a good day today for the US, how did Norway end up at the team event”  Needless to say we all laughed, well all but the Norwegian reporter.

The coaching staff with Greg Windsperger, Erling Rimeslaatten and Rex Bell had a team that was within striking distance of winning a medal at the team event, and with a little luck we would have been there. I am thankful to have been part of this team and for all the time we spend together completing along with so many unforgettable moments we shared together.  

USANS Story Project 26-DEC-2015 STEVE GASKILL

WE'RE WITH THE BAND.  The US Nordic combined team poses for the album cover before recording any music in the fall of 1979.  L-R Pat Ahern, Glenn Joyce, Mike Devecka, Chris Axselson, Coach Steve Gaskill, Kerry Lynch, Jon Zdechlik, and Gary Crawford.  Photo thanks to Walter Malmquist, also a member of the team.

STEVE GASKILL

Former Head US Nordic Combined Coach 70's/80's

Missoula, MT

Steven.Gaskill@mso.umt.edu

International Cooperation

It was a long time ago in a land far to the North.  The location was Mo-i-Rana, Norway.  It is so long ago that I have forgotten exact dates, but I believe it might have been March 19, 1978.  March 19 because it was my birthday and 1978 because this story began at the World Championships in Lahti which, by the way, will be the site of the 2017 Nordic World Championships.

The Nordic Combined team was having a pretty good year in both the cross country portion and jumping events (except at the World Championships).  The team had gained a lot of respect and we had spent lots of time training with other teams.  Nordic Combined is a pretty small community worldwide and back then, as I expect there still is, there was a good sense of camaraderie between international athletes and coaches. 

As the games were winding up, the Finnish head coach invited me over for a sauna and celebration.  Saunas with the Finns are never to be taken lightly, but when mixed with their love of spirits and competitive nature, they can be quite the experience.  This was not a letdown, and by the time I finally bailed into the ice hole for the third time I was pretty cooked (in more ways than one).  Shortly thereafter we were sitting on bearskin robes before a brightly burning fire and sharing stories.  Sometime during this period I vaguely remember being asked if I would consider helping the Finnish Nordic Combined team on the Northern Norway spring trip.  The head coach needed to stay home and their main assistant was expecting a new child.  What can one say?  It was settled.

We worked our way north: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Finally to Mo-i-Rana (Mo) tucked just under the Arctic Circle. The competitions were all great fun and fiercely fought.  Kerry Lynch, Pat Ahern, Mike Devecka, Gary Crawford and the juniors were all skiing well as were the Finns.  At Trondheim, between the Finns and Americans, we accounted for six of the top 10 (3 American and 3 Finns). 

Mo was the end of the line.  We had traveled by rail north from Trondheim.  I recall it snowed the entire way.  Big wet flakes of spring snow.  The jump in Mo looked out over the sea and was a spectacular setting.  Kerry Lynch was leading after the jumping with Pat, Gary and Mike Devecka all in the hunt.  Sunday morning;  Temperature was right at freezing and those big flakes of wet snow just kept falling.  Back then, Nordic Combined was still a classic cross country event and this even was not being run in the pursuit format.  The best skiers were seeded at the end.  All of the Americans had jumped well, but unfortunately some had to start in the early XC waves based on the seeding. 

Race morning, every team member, both Finn and American, were testing wax.  I had tried everything and sent the early skiers out on my two pairs of no-wax skis.  The hairies (base roughed up with sandpaper) were OK, but a bit slick, everything else was walking on stilts.  With the top flight just getting ready to start one of the Finns handed me a tube of Rex Silver klister with a big smile and Thumbs up. “Hyvä!, Niin sitä pitää! (Good – That’s the Stuff!)”.  While skeptical I started applying it to skis as fast as I could.  All hands were helping and each of the last two Finns and American barely made it to the start line.  WOW!  Those four skiers finished 1-4 many minutes ahead of the rest of the pack.  I don’t remember the final results, but here were two Finns and two Americans at the top of the XC and overall results.  There was another sauna and celebration that night – this time by the skiers while I slept in.

Steve is now a professor at the University of Montana.  To see his UMT bio, CLICK HERE 

To see Steve's TEDx Talk on the importance of motion to learning  CLICK HERE  

IT HURTS HERE.  Steve Gaskill gives a TEDx Talk on the connection between motion and learning.

USANS Story Project 25-DEC-2015 LANDIS ARNOLD

DREAMS OF SKI JUMPERS FLYING THROUGH HIS HEAD.  Landis Arnold recalls the Christmas vacations of his childhood in when days upon days were all about ski jumping.

LANDIS ARNOLD

Boulder, CO

Winter Park Ski Club, 1984 Olympics

larnold@nomadic.net

Ski Sport and the Holidays

As we head into the holidays, I look out on a yard full of snow. There is some ice on the road here where we live outside Boulder, CO. It's marginal ski jumping country here, but you could, if we had a hill, ski this week. Our good snow is in the mountains above. I grew up as a “student” in the Winter Park Jump School. Winter Park was a Saturday-Sunday program through most of the season, but the holiday week was always one of the highlights of our year. We got a whole week of skiing, and sometimes two weeks of skiing around the holidays. What fun was that!?

Holiday week would normally snow a lot. We would pack, and pack and pack. Our interface to the jumps then was made by packing steps into the snow, carrying our skis, everyone following the lead, generally deliberating about our upcoming jump, but also trying not to step off the “packed” path and fall through into the sugar snow or worse. Luckily we jumped in “sensible clothes”: Wool and nylon stretch pants, wool sweaters, low top leather boots, beanie caps and foggy goggles.

If there were not such crowds on the alpine hills and lifts, we would sometimes take the leisure of riding the Gemini Lift up to the top of Parkway then schuss like Robert Redford in Downhill Racer down to the jumps. We skied the 20, 35 and 50 meter hills with some “rocket lift” help from time to time. But normally we hiked.  Coaches got to talk to us this way. We got to look at the hill. We got to imagine the jumps again and again.

And then sometimes, the snow and overdose on jumps would conspire and we would grab our shovels and start building our “snow castle” in the starts. Our 35 meter hill was a wonderful jump with a pitifully flat in run. Where we started it was even flatter. But with our shovels we could fill everything in and build a series of carve-in starts, and even make a gelandesprung path from the “attic”. That was fun. Co-conspirator Craig Gaskill took his skills in snow carving and applied it to a career in Civil Engineering and has lead some incredible highway up fits – including the Valley Highway through the south side of Denver. That was fun, but the snow project was really fun. On my side, this early carving helped me in later years when I was shaping kayaks. White plaster, white snow.

Over the years one mantra I took to my skiing I realize grew from these experiences. “Ski the hill” I would say. “Ski the hill” was a way to keep from focusing too much on “the takeoff.” In other ways it gave me a pathway to “enter the present” when I was finished with my imagery. Ultimately though, it gave me a path for “absorbing the greater experience.” Being a ski jumper is a gateway to the world that is incomparable in its experience. Physics of flight. Athletic challenge. Danger. Beauty. Travel. Foreign immersion. Variable snow. Great friends. Caring coaches. Amazing communities. Hard work. Unbelievable fun.

Ski the hill. See the jump you are about to take. Believe it. Then see your hand, your feet. Put your skis down. Enjoy putting your bindings on. Be in the moment. You don't get to carve your way into the track these days, but you can still ski the hill. Get over your center and into your tuck. Love that transition and keep that center forward. And through the tunnel the movement like no other. Into the air and gathering. Climbing on the arc, climb as high as you can. When it all goes well it pulls you and the glide… Wow. If it was up to me I would change the skis and bindings so you can put in a great telemark again, and maybe carve a bit once you land. Ski the hill. Ski the hill and have fun every day.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

FROM DREAMS to REALITY.  Landis Arnold with perfect form in 1983 at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway.

EDITOR'S NOTE-  To see the Downhill Racer trailer- CLICK HERE

USANS Story Project 24-DEC-2015 BOB HENDRICKSON

FLAP 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM.  Clarence "Coy" Hill demonstrates the style of the early '50's.  

BOB HENDRICKSON

Ishpeming Ski Club

Negaunee, MI

bobkie@hotmail.com

EDITOR'S NOTE-

Email from Bob that accompanied this story:

Digging through some old computer files I finally came across a write-up for Coy Hill that I put together for a tribute in a local newsletter shortly after he passed away.

Feel free to use it as seen fit. Edit what's needed. Lend credit to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, Ishpeming, Michigan

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

“Well, I always said that others should talk of your feats or you should read about it. 

But, you’re asking me so I’ll tell you…”

-Clarence “Coy” Hill, 1984 interview with Ray Leverton, managing curator

Location: U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, Ishpeming

Clarence “Coy” Hill, of Ishpeming, passed away Sunday, May 13, 2012 at his home. He was 85. Coy was inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1974 for his ski jumping accomplishments and was honored with a Lifetime Membership in the Ishpeming Ski Club and the USSA Central Coaches Association.

He was born in Negaunee on April 27, 1927. Coy started ski jumping at age four and began competing at age 10. He served in the Navy during World War II and worked as an iron worker when he came home. His love of ski jumping never diminished and he excelled in ski jumping competitions throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s.

In an interview with Ray Leverton, managing curator at the time, at the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 1984, Leverton asked, “So, you say you started skiing when you were four years old Coy?”

Coy responded, “Yes, I started flying through the air when I was four... not just as a skier. I was not a skier. I was a ski jumper.”

Winning the U.S. National Class A Championship in 1952, several other top national and regional titles, along with successful showings at international ski flying tournaments in Europe, Coy made his mark as a ski jumping athlete.

“Ski jumping was my life,” he stated during an interview in the documentary Winter Wonderland: Michigan’s Golden Age of Skiing. “To fly through the air on a pair of skis…, the sensation cannot be put into words. It’s the next perfect thing to flying like a bird, except the skis are your wings,” he explained.

One of his career highlights came during a multi-day competition held at the Los Angeles County Fair in September of 1952 in Pomona, California. “The longest recorded ski jump tournament in the history of the world, seventeen days of competition,” Coy stated during the 1984 interview with Leverton.  An entire ski jump tower along with a landing hill was constructed of scaffolding. Crushed ice was packed on the in-run and landing prior to each day’s tournament. He competed against several members of the U.S. Olympic ski jumping team and was crowned the overall champion and also landed the longest jump of the event daily.  Overall he took 10 firsts, three seconds, a third and a fourth with two nights being exhibition.

Coy’s contributions went well beyond his years spent flying through the air. As a ski sport builder he dedicated his life to the sport of ski jumping by coaching the local youth and building the jumps at Suicide Hill Ski Bowl. His leadership in the Ishpeming Ski Club was a source of inspiration for all club members.  He vigorously pressured the entire American ski jumping institution to take up new international standards for ski jump construction and landing hill profiles.

He was instrumental in the construction of the current Suicide Hill jump scaffolding that was built with a small army of volunteers, a hand winch and a gin pole. Upon completion and dedication of the new jump on February 16, 1972, he was the first rider to take flight.

Coy Hills’ gruff voice and stern eyes will be missed at the ski jump hills. His sincere smile and nod of approval will always be remembered by those who put the time and efforts to keep the ski jumping culture alive at Suicide Hill Ski Bowl.

In the 1984 interview with Leverton when talking about what it takes to be a ski jumper Coy said, “If it’s our job, no matter what it is, to be good you sacrifice something. You spend time at it. You want something you got to be hungry. You’ve got to have lust. That doesn’t mean we have to be mean or anything else. Just have to be hungry. You got to want it more than the other one if you’re going to win. You’ve got to want something to win it.”

****

“Oh yes, I’m bragging. I was strong. I loved it. I spent a lifetime at it. If I missed a day of practice I thought it was a sin. If I didn’t ski I ran or went and worked on the hill. I loved it. We didn’t have the programs we have today. You get on the U.S. Team or something you get a sponsorship or stuff like that. We didn’t have that. It was personal sacrifice.”

                                                                                          

Coy Hill in 1984 interview with Ray Leverton

EDITOR'S NOTE-

Coy was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1974.  To see his USSHoF bio, CLICK HERE

DARE ME?  Coy Hill in an undated photograph.

USANS Story Project 23-DEC-2015 MIKE DEVECKA

POSTER CHILD- Nordic combined skier Mike Devecka went from borrowed skis to 4 Olympics.  Says Walter Malmquist, who had the November 1977 issue of Ski Racing- "I’m certain that the image on the front page which I’m sharing with you is Mike Devecka in flight with 1975 USST paraphernalia... probably a Dave Buckman photo taken at Gunstock during the 1975 Nordic Combined Nationals which Mike won by 13.7 points... about a minute and a half in X-C terms), Steve Gaskill was runner-up... and Dave Lantz was fourth (only 1.1 points off Steve)."

MIKE DEVECKA

Government Camp, OR

1968.72.76.80 Olympic teams Nordic combined
Layfayette, CO

mdevecka@comcast.net

I started skiing when I was 5 years old. My Dad was superintendent of one of the local ski areas so he would take me to work with him and I would ski until the lifts closed at 4:30. At the time the ski areas were only open on the weekends. When I was 8 years old, one of the owners of the ski area bought his son and me a pair of jumping skis. My ski club had a bunch of Norwegians and other older senior jumpers. They would come up on the weekends from Portland and we would pack out the K35 hill and ski on the weekend. Once a year we would have our annual tournament and use the big hill (K75) but I wasn't ready to use it until after high school.

When I was 14, one of the club members asked me if I wanted to go to Jr Nationals. I said, " Uhhhh, sure."  Well if you go you'll have to ski cross country.  "Uhhhh OK". There was one person in my town with cross country skis, so I asked if I could borrow them. Then I had to find some boots and skis. The Jr Nationals were in Steamboat that year (1962). A few days before the nationals started, my parents helped me pack and took me to the airport to fly to Denver (my first airplane trip). It was a DC8 four propeller airliner. Arriving in Denver at about 10am I got a taxi that took me to the Denver bus terminal and I had to wait about 12 hrs. before the bus left for Steamboat. Arriving in the 'boat at 2am, I found the Harbour Hotel and checked in. I had never skied outside Oregon or Washington. I found my PNSA teammates so I had someone to guide me around.

I had a couple days of practice on XC skis and some jump practice. Then race day (my first ever XC race). Fortunately I didn't finish last as Alaska had brought two girls as there was no girls class, so they raced with the boys. If not for them I would have been dead last. Then on to the jump comp.  I don't remember what place I finished but that was the start of my Nordic Combined career. Probably last place.

All through my junior racing, my training consisted of warming up for the XC race on Saturday and racing, then getting as many practice jumps and then the jump comp on Sunday. No one skied XC where I grew up on Mt Hood and during the week I rode the bus to high school (45 minutes each way), so I left in the dark and got home in the dark. I probably had about 50 or 60km of XC skiing a year and 50 or 60 jumps a year in a good year.

I'm sure no one except my teammates knew who I was and no one, even me, would believe that 6 years later I would be marching in the opening ceremonies at the 1968 Olympic Games in Grenoble France.

EDITOR'S NOTE-  Mike was elected to the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1999.  to see his bio, CLICK HERE 

Mike skied in the 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 Olympics.

USANS Story Project 22-DEC-2015 DAVE LANTZ

COVER SHOT- Dave Lantz made the cover of the 1976 US Eastern Nordic Championship program hosted at Gunstock (NH).  As Dave points out, he was early to the V style.

DAVE LANTZ

Brattleboro Outing Club, Newport Outing Club, Middlebury College, USST Nordic Combined

Newport, NH

dlantz@mjharrington.com

FEBRUARY VACATION

The setting is Brattleboro’s Harris Hill in the mid 60’s.  Junior skiers galore helping prepare for the big tournament (back then we packed the hills top to bottom).  Tiny Mastaller, one of the Brattleboro coaches, suggested today could be the day for several of us to take out first rides on the "Big Hill."

"Ride the outrun one more time", he said. This was after a number of rides down the landing hill.  Down I went, took a severe crash in the dip, and humbly walked back up to the knoll.  He looked over, gave me the thumbs up, and said "you're ready."

I was thinking, "How could this possibly be?" I just crashed, riding the landing hill.  Dang, he must not have seen it."

So….I  headed up, pretty excited, very nervous,  and made my first ride, landing at about 110 feet, (which was easy and safe on the hill at that time).   But landing on the knob gave us some extra speed, so by the time I hit the dip, I was really flying.

Sarge (Alan Sargent who ran the show in Brattleboro for years) showed up a short time later, not pleased we were flying (well sort of) with the big boys and told us we were done for the day.

And, that's how it began!

Some acknowledgements from Dave-

NEWPORT, NH   Beyond our parents, probably all of us in the Nordic skiing world could say the most influential and important mentors and guiding lights in our lives would have to be our coaches.  I would venture to guess that we are all who we are today, in large part, because of the wonderful acts of kindness and encouragement offered to us by our coaches as well as the awesome parents of fellow Nordic skiers during those competitive years. We learned to take risks, push the limits, and the ever essential benefits of hard work and concentrated focus.  

I would like to pay tribute to several such coaches for me and many others: Alan Sargent, Millington Dix, Tiny Mastaller, and  Dr. Phil Dunham of the Brattleboro VT Outing Club where it all began for many of us; Dave Anderson, our Brattleboro Union High School coach; John Bower, my Middlebury College coach (winner of 1968 Holmenkollen Nordic Combined and two-time Olympian); Roland Tremblay, our local coach, for whom the jumping facility in Newport NH is named following his nearly four decades of commitment to the young skiers in our area.

I would also like to thank my national coaches: Peter Robes, Adolf Koos, the “Silver Fox”, Al Merrill, and all the rest who simply kept encouraging us to come back the next week, always dreaming of those illusive rides to "the bottom"!

I am grateful to all who have made this sport such an important part of our lives.

Enclosed is the photo of me, wearing one of the early helmets on the Gunstock NH Big Hill.  Note: I feel I was unknowingly a forerunner to the famous "V" style.  My skis never seemed to stay together, and the judges never really liked that back then!

I would also like to offer a SPECIAL THANKS to Jeff Hastings for spear heading this fun return to a little history of the sport we all love so much.    Carry on! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Dave Lantz

EDITOR'S NOTE-

Check out the Jan 14 1975 Nashua Telegraph article referencing Dave and the 1975 Gunstock competition (which was probably the venue for the cover shot, above)-  CLICK HERE 

USANS Story Project 21-DEC-2015 RASMUSSEN

IT ALWAYS STARTS WITH DAD.  Gary Rasumussen's father Wilbert (in sling) with Finnish jumper Pentti Heino at the 1950 World Championships hosted in Lake Placid..  See caption, below.

GARY RASMUSSEN

Ishpeming Ski Club

Ishpeming, MI

grazz525@hotmail.com

In the summer of 1971 the Ishpeming Ski Club proceeded with a project to tear down Suicide Hill's old wood scaffold and build a brand new steel tower. This would be the first complete overhaul of the hill since it was built in 1925. The $52,000.00 project was a big deal for our small towns at the time and much of the help was done by volunteer iron workers and apprentice labor. I was 12 at the time. As I watched the construction progress I was often told where to go so I wasn't in danger. The first time I was allowed to climb a ladder upon the structure was when they had a deck on the take off. As the tower took shape I was able to help by grabbing the end of a plank and hauling it up to it's final resting place. 

Just to put in perspective the difference between kids those days and now, I will mention my greatest memory from that project. The decking and railings were finally complete. My dad, Wilbert Rasmussen and I were installing the steps and we ran out of wood right near the top of the tower. Dad says, Gary there's a piece of 2 by 3 in the back of the Scout. Go get that for me. We were not going home without finishing what we started to do. The Scout was on the very bottom of the hill. How many 12 year olds today are going to just run down a 90 meter slide under construction then through the woods by the landing just to get a piece of wood. Zip zoom, done.

I took my first jumps on Suicide the following winter. At 13, I was the youngest to jump the hill at that time. Now it seems that 10 to 12 year olds jump it all the time and call it a nice little hill. My dad also took his first jump in 14 years. That did not go well. His last jumps taken in 1958 were for a successful bid to make the 58 World Championship Team. I'm pretty sure I took around a thousand jumps on Suicide over the next twenty years. None as thrilling as the first few. Every time I hit that piece of 2 by 3 I thought about my dad.

When I first started to jump at Suicide Bowl, Ralph Bietila and Coy Hill were still sliding a few off now and then. Joe Perrault my dad and all the old Hall of Famer's were like Lombardi's Packers to Ishpeming and Negaunee in the decades to follow. What a great childhood those guys gave me.

My dad and Ralph both died in the Veteran's Facility in Marquette. Coy and Roxy Lawson came to visit them just before my dad was inducted into the U.P. Sports hall of Fame in 2010. He passed four days after his induction.  Did those old jumpers ever light up that building for an hour or so. In all honesty, this could be a never ending story. Hope you enjoy this short clip.

EIDITOR'S NOTE-

Wilbert Rasmussen was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1988.  See bio- CLICK HERE

The caption on the back of the photo, above.  

Suicide Hill in the 1940's.  A long run from the top to the bottom... especially on 12 year old legs.

PRACTICING DIPLOMACY WITH MEMBERS OF THE RUSSIAN TEAM.  USA masters jumper Gary Rasmussen, center, with Dave Edlund (L) and Mark Miles (R) with members of the Russian team.. "They traded jackets and "jet fuel."

USANS Story Project 20-DEC-2015 CYNTHIA KLING

EDITOR'S NOTE-  I try to avoid being preachy, especially this time of year, but I can't read this story without being struck by the fact that we all stand on the shoulders of those who preceded us, many times with no recognition of the fact, at all.  Cynthia got her start on the shoulders of Gary Allen and I have to think that in some small (big?) way the success of the US women ski jumpers can be traced back to Cynthia's shoulders.  For the record, Gary Allen was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1992.  He died at age 90 in 2007.  CLICK HERE to see obit.

CARRYING THE FLAG FOR SKI JUMPING & WOMEN- Cythia Kling, the first woman to become a FIS certified international ski jumping judge.  Shown here in Sarjevo, 1984.

CYNTHIA GUILD KLING
Gunstock Nordic Association (Gilford, NH)

Starksboro, VT
guildkling@gmail.com

Back in the 60's, the Kling boys and their parents realized that alpine competition was too expensive for us. Gary Allen, our friend, said that he had a barn full of jumping skis and boots. He would be willing to organize a group of youngsters with us and coach jumping at the Gunstock Ski Area jumps. He quickly had a "team" of eager boys, outfitted and on the "hill"; the 14 meter.

I was the designated driver and Gary said that instead of sitting in the car, I could work the small hill, as he had boys ready to move over to the 20 meter.  And I did.  Bill Trudgeon, an old jumper from Laconia joined us along with Claude Riche, a  cross country coach and we had ourselves a coordinated team.

Gary was in touch through E.S.A. (Eastern Ski Association) with others who had jumpers on their hills:  Brattleboro, Hanover, Lyndonville, Rumford, etc. From these groups the Torger Tokle league was started.  Later it became the Bill Koch League when he medaled in the Olympic Games and cross country along with the Nordic combined events were added to jumping.

Gunstock Nordic Association developed out of the parent club: Gilford Outing Club and went to work to add lights on the two small hills and got monies for the 40 meter lights as well. Through their organization, work on bringing the 65 meter up to an Olympic-sized 70 began.

We had up to 25 youngsters jumping twice a week and tourneys around New England on the weekends. My coaching continued and with encouragement from Bill T. I began to work as a judge. Gary took a sabbatical to Alaska and left me to rent out equipment with GNA help and organize use of the complex with high schools and colleges. In the early 70's, we held a couple of girls’ tourneys using the high school boys' equipment.  And the young men acted as cheerleaders for their team.

We had great dedicated youngsters and their families.  Many went on to high school, college and National teams. Some came back to their home areas and took up coaching as well.  I went on with my judging: Eastern, National, and finally the first woman FIS International Jump Judge.

FAMILY KLING-  Both Chase and Kurt were jumpers and gave back as coaches, too.

Cynthia today.