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ski jumping
in the
eastern u.s.a.
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MAINTAINED BY THE
EASTERN SKI JUMPING & NORDIC COMBINED FOUNDATION, INC.
(A CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, ALL DONATIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE AS ALLOWED BY LAW)
The Pride of the
Upper Valley
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For more than a decade, the U. S. Ski Jumping Team was dominated by athletes
from the
upper Connecticut River Valley.
Six of these ski stars grew up in little Norwich VT and learned to ski in the
junior jumping program
of
the
Ford Sayre Ski Club
across the Connecticut River in Hanover NH. Two families produced five of these
six:
Jeff Hastings
from Norwich placed fourth in the large hill competition at the
Sarajevo Olympic Games, just a meter or two
out of the medals. He finished the 1984 season in fourth place in World Cup
Standings.
Jeff collected four U.S. National Championships during his career.
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Jeff Hastings, surrounded by some
of the beautiful ladies in his life.
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Mike Holland, also from Norwich, campaigned on the World Cup circuit for
seven seasons, scoring World Cup points every year.
He set a new
World distance record
for ski flying in 1985 won a silver medal at the World
Ski Flying championships
in 1989. Mike also collected four U.S. National titles.
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Chris Hastings
(Jeff's younger brother) competed in the Olympic Games, the
World Championships and the World
University Games and he won two U.S. National crowns. Later, as NYSEF jumping
coach,
Chris lifted the Lake Placid training program to a new level. Each year, in
Salisbury, he
would dust off his skis and show his students that the coach could still do it!
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The second Holland brother,
Joe Holland
, chose Nordic Combined skiing rather
than special jumping.
In his nine year international career he competed in two Olympic Games, two
World
Championships, and
the World University Games. Joe won National Nordic Combined Championships
three
times and even tried his hand at ski flying.
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The youngest Holland brother,
Jim Holland
, the first U.S. jumper to succeed
with the V-style, competed in two Olympic Games,
two World Championships, eclipsed the others with six National titles.
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Jim in Albertville
(click image to view full size)
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Tad Langlois
from Newport NH Skied in three Olympics and two World
Championships. He was top U.S. finisher in The Lillehammer
Olympics and in the 1994 World Cup.
(The 89.5 meter flight shown at the right
put Tad into second place after the first round in the World
Junior Championships, Lake Placid, 1986.)
Nordic Combined skier
Tim Tetreault, Norwich VT,
was the last active jumper from this generation. With
three Olympics and three U.S. National
crowns under his belt, Tim retired from international
competition, at the end of the 1999 ski season.
Legends of the Ford Sayre Ski Club at the Last Fling
on the famous Dartmouth College ski jump.
L-R: Mike Holland, Joe Holland, Chris Hastings,
Dave Weider, Jamie Hutchins, Jim Holland.
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To tally up the gold medals these guys have hauled home from the U.S. National
Championships, see the list of
recent Champions
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The famous Dartmouth College "Big Hill", where all these Ford Sayre
jumpers developed their skills, was torn down in the spring of
1993 but the Great Blizzard of '93 provided snow for one last fling. It was
a fitting way to say farewell to a grand old ski jump.
Read about it
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The sport is waiting to see who will be the next
Pride of the Upper Valley
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Next, you can meet the promising young jumpers
who represent the future of jumping in the east,
or go on to meet:
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