Matt Delaney reports on the Eastern
We first arrived in Ramsau on August 24th, and moved into our home for the duration of our stay at Andi Mitter’s parents bed and breakfast, the Bergschlussl. After our first jumps on Ramsau’s K90 we all were glad this would be our “home” hill for the trip. We also traveled to see Kulm, a K185 ski flying hill, which was quite an experience to see a hill which people have flown 220 meters on. The next jumping stop was to Villach’s K60 and K90 which were different hills than we were used to. The high flight profile over the knoll proved difficult to go far on, but it was a good example of the many different types of hills out there. Bischofshofen was the only big hill we jumped on the trip, a K125. It turned out to be a lousy day, pouring rain during our session, but we all learned what it was like to jump on a world class level hill with low speeds.
Overall, this trip was definitely a great learning experience for all six athletes who went. Everybody
enjoyed themselves immensely, and hopefully this will be an opportunity to give the East an advantage for
our athletes when they reach the next levels of competition in the worlds of ski jumping and nordic
combined.
Galen Sayward delivers
The 'summer' season wound down with the Flaming Leaves events in October at Lake Placid. The two days of competition had two different winners with Alan Alborn and Clint Jones swapping wins. We certainly had some nice rides even with variable winds on the two days. It was really great to see the continual improvement that occurs in both the open and junior classes. I have had the great pleasure of seeing this advancement by officiating at many of the Divisional, National, and North American events that much of our jumping community has participated in for the last several years. Once again this year we have the honor of having a major event at Lake Placid. The North American Jr 1 Ski Jump and Nordic Combined Championships will be held January 18-22. With Lake Placid also hosting the World "B" Cup Nordic Combined event December 14-16, there will be plenty of early season activity here in the East. For many of our younger competitors, a focus on being ready for the JOs in Steamboat Springs March 1-5 is a priority. As all of our athletes, coaches, and parents are looking forward to the ensuing season by getting equipment ready, replacing some when necessary, and improving their plan for training, traveling and schooling, those of us in the officiating community have also be getting ready. Many of our judges and TDs attended a FIS/North American Seminar held at the Training Center in early November. A meeting of the Eastern Ski Jump and Nordic Combined Officials Association was also held at that time. During the seminar, much attention was directed at the precision of judging the three components of the ride. With the possibility of losing 5 points on the flight stage, 5 points for the landing, and up to 7 points for a fall prior to the fall line, it is really important to deal with all three phases during training. For instance a landing without a telmark is automatically a 2.0 point deduction from you score! So lets all of us concentrate on the particular part of our sport that needs just a little more work to get to the next level. If the athletes work on their technique and the judges, markers, and other officials work on their specific part of the sport, then our Eastern Jumping program will continue to turn out top level competitors. Be ready when the snow arrives, but better yet - be ready to improve! Galen Sayward, Chairman of the Eastern Jump and Nordic Officials Association
As the winter season rolls in, the East finds itself with three major competitions this winter and of course our usual slate as well. National Championships will be held out west for the sixth year in a row. Each spring the Eastern delegation has spoken loudly about the timing and location of this even, but to no avail. We will keep tying to get it back here. All three of these Eastern events are important in a variety of ways. First it gives us home-field advantage, which is always a good thing. Second it is good for the site because it brings a high level of competition to the complex, and third it’s good for the town with positive press and out-of-towners spending money there. It also encourages the site to try and continue making improvements to the jumps and XC courses which helps both the site and our athletes. We do however need some help with these big events. I have some space for volunteers at the events here, and Rex Bell is willing to take care of anyone wanting to work at Brattleboro as well. Having qualified sites to run competitions when it is our turn in the rotation is a key factor in our athletes’ development and our program in general. Anyone able to help out, please let me know – even if it’s only for a day or so. These events take a lot of manpower to pull off. It’s for the good of the division.
A New Heights Online Extra
Matt Delaney and David McCahill have finished high school but instead of retiring from ski
competition, they have postponed college (Cornell and Harvard, respectively) to commit themselves
to be the best Nordic Combined athletes they can be. They will call Steamboat their home base for
the season and immerse themselves in the sport.
But Lake Placid won't be empty for the upcoming season. Adding to the always strong local
athletes, seven jumpers have moved from their homes all over
New England to Lake Placid to train in Larry's NYSEF program. Alphabetically, the seven are
Nick Alexander, Peter Freire, Willy Graves, Pat Hudson, Chris Lamb, Andrew MacEwan and Ryan Nicholson.
Committing to higher education are:
Retired jumper Jim Holland (Ford Sayre, USST, National Champion, Olympian) has earned an
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award!
Read about it.
In May, we received this update on Chris Jones:
And in July we received a blast from the past from Tristan Handler:
Steve McNeil wrote in August:
I'M IN!!!
I have been accepted as a flight contract candidate and have the next few weeks to prepare, then my
report date is October 3 in Quantico, Virginia.
... and again in November:
Take care and keep me in your thoughts,
Steve McNeil P.O. Box 85 East Andover, NH 03231
"My son, Hunter, is now 11 yrs old. He is big into alpine racing. So, instead of freezing my butt off
watching I get to ski as well :-)
"And, three months ago we had a baby girl - Greta. Seems like another generation with so much time
between kids. But, separate marriages will do that." (Photos below)
"Aude Volare" -- Dare to Fly!
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Zach Daniels' big V on the Lake Placid K48
Alex Madden fighting off the pack
Between
the
Colors
...
Above: Mom Heidi with Greta
