K-46 with K-30 visible through trees

K-30 with K-46 visible through trees

Mother nature was not kind, either to the hosts or the skiers. A long thaw left very little snow in the countryside, but man-made snow is very durable and all hills were in good shape in spite of the rain which fell on Saturday afternoon. The Masters competition was scheduled for Saturday evening to enable skiers to travel from Madison after the Blackhawk meet, but as it turned out, nobody did the double.

Bob Keck (left) and Ken Anderson (right) chatting with Carol Keck. They both decided not to ski.

John Werler (front), Patrick Kruegel (center) and Joe Berens (right) inspect the Masters banner.

Most of the Old Boys got plenty of jumping as both the 30 and 46 meter hills were open for training all day Saturday with a rope tow serving the hills. The motto of the event was "The older we get, the better we were" and between practice sessions and in periods of heavy rain, jumpers past and present retired to the pleasant Club chalet to reminisce and swap tall tales.

Darcy Oligney, Tom Moore and Don West

Tom Ricchio and Terry Holmgren

By six o'clock, competition time, the rains had let up to a misty sprinkle and skiers in four ten-year age groups began the evening on the delightful 30 meter hill with its world class tower and starts. When the small hill competition was finished, activity moved to the 46 meter Harrington Hill where fifteen skiers competed, again in four age groups. Both tracks were straight and smooth and speed was adequate and steady on both tracks and landings.

Judges Archie Lowman and Ole Arneson

Earle Murphy

When the jumping was finished, everybody moved back into the chalet for awards, fellowship and food. Hosts layed out a small buffet while soggy jumpers changed into dry clothes, and the social aspect of Old Boys ski jumping shifted into high gear. About nine o'clock, people moved upstairs for awards. First on the agenda was the induction ceremony into the Masters Ski Jumpers Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame was established by long-time Masters jumper Earle Murphy who traveled to St. Paul from his New Jersey home to assist in the ceremony, directed by Tim Denisson. Tim started by asking Don West to read the names of the fifteen prior inductees:

• Petter Denisson, St. Paul, father of Tim and Corky
• John Viscome, long-time coach of Lake Placid junior jumpers
• Alan Sargent who ran the Brattleboro VT program for thirty years
• Phil Dunham, National Veterans Champion, nine-time Eastern Veterans Champion
• Luke Soler who jumped into his 70's in St. Paul
• Johnny Lyons, champion and great supporter of St. Paul Ski Club
• Ingvar " Ole" Arneson, Sr., Wisconsin Rapids, champion, Tri-Norse Club leader
• Aurele Legere, backbone of the Chisholm Ski Club in Rumford ME
• Earle Murphy, champion, co-founder of the International Masters Championships
• Sig Evensen, judge, TD, hill preparer and great supporter of the sport
• Lloyd "Snowball" Severud, National Champion and Olympic Coach
• Bob Hein of Philadelphia with many wins in National and IMC events
• Sig Malvik, champion, organizer in Iola, WI
• Bob Immens, jumper, judge, coach and Dad in the Norge Ski Club, Chicago
• Carl Howelsen who brought ski jumping to Steamboat Springs, CO

The second new inductee, St. Paul's Wally Wakefield, was introduced by Phil "Moose" Sanders, who described with words and pictures the many ways in which Wally contributed to the Ski Club and to the sport, including creating a summer water jump and writing "On Wings of Wood", a history of the St. Paul Ski Club.

Ed Brisson

Wally Wakefield (and Tim)

Corky and Tim Denisson

Don West then asked Tim for the floor and surprised the MC by introducing two more new inductees, brothers Tom "Corky" Denisson and Tim Denisson, sons of the very first inductee, Petter Denisson. Tim was even wearing his dad's old white hat which he wears only on very special ski jumping occasions.

Don called Corky "Mr. Master Jumper", National Champion on the big hills as well as the Age Group meets, IMC medalist who is probably the oldest skier ever to jump the Copper Peak ski flying hill in Ironwood, MI. He did it all!

Younger brother Tim went from U.S. Ski Team athlete to USST coach but never quit his own jumping. He has more Masters Age Group gold medals than any other jumper, even Earle Murphy, and has several IMC medals. He served as IMC Chairman and is presently U.S. Masters Chairman.

Masters Ski Jumpers Hall of Fame, Class of 2006:
Corky Denisson, Wally Wakefield, Tim Denisson and Ed Brisson

After Hall of Fame ceremonies, and before the jumping medals were presented, Club MC John Lyons made a few presentations to workers and supporters, including a medal to Ken Anderson (right) who has done so much for Central Jumping by creating and maintaining the web site SkiJumpingCentral.com. At this Masters event, Lyons called the medal a (web)Masters award.

Overall winner on the small hill was 57 year old Tom Ricchio of Iola, the only skier to pass the 80 foot mark. When Terry Holmgren of Ishpeming, the oldest jumper on the 30 meter hill, accepted his gold medal, he turned to the audience and reported that he had suffered a heart attack and undergone quadruple bypass surgury just last October, but that he wanted to ski in one more National Championship. Other class winners were Joe Berens (M-II, Minneapolis) and Bill Ryan (M-I, Lebanon NH). A new face on the small hill was Tom Moore who jumped years ago as a junior with the Navarino (WI) Ski Club and has recently resumed his interest in the sport.

On the 46 meter hill, gold medals went to Patrick Kruegel (M-I, Minneapolis), overall winner and many time champion Scott Smith (M-II, Norge S.C.), Tom Ricchio (M-III, Iola) and Don West (M-IV, Lake Placid, at 68, the oldest competitor on the weekend). New Master Richard Tonkin traveled down from Thunder Bay in Canada to join in the fun, though by rule, he competed as a guest and could not take home a U.S. Masters title. The gang also welcomed a new team of three jumpers from the Lebanon Outing Club in New Hampshire. With awards finished, the Old Boys shifted into social mode, drinking beers and telling lies until well after midnight.

The last official Masters activity of the weekend was the Minneapolis 70 meter jump (left) on Sunday afternoon. Wet surface and snow spitting from the gray sky made the prospect of jumping not very appealing to most of the Old Boys and while conditions were really quite acceptable, in the end, home hill advantage prevailed, as the only two Masters to compete were the two Minneapolis Ski Club members, Joe Berens and Patrick Kruegel who had scores of training rides on the hill this season.

Well, not quite! A well known skier but brand new Master registered in the Womens Class. This was Karla Keck of Oconomowoc, who easily won the women's competition. In recent years, the National Championships are competed in a single class, with Junior medalists identified after the fact. Similarly, we identify skiers of Masters age (30+) and name Masters big hill champions. A separate womens competition is held, using different starts. This year at the Steamboat Springs Nationals, Karla was the only skier, male or female, over 30 years of age and so is the National Masters Champion on both the Normal Hill (K-90) and the Large Hill (K-114). And now she is also the K-70 Masters National Champion. Congratulations Karla, and welcome!
(Karla has been a pioneer of women's ski jumping all her life and it would be nice to report that she has the honor of being the first female at our Masters Championships but that honor goes to adult beginner Lisa Smith who slid off the ten meter jump at Norge in 2005.)

Joe Berens (M-II)

Patrick Kruegel (M-I)

Karla Keck (M-I)