Peter and Heidi Roland, who coordinate the crew of volunteers who do so much to help make ski jumping happen, had all the help they needed on Saturday so volunteer Barbara West walked all over the venue with her digital camera, snapping the photographs below. (See also Podium Photos and Event Results.)

Friends Cooper Dodds (with bottle) and Sam Bryson of Ford Sayre Ski club in Hanover, NH don't know it yet, but the friendships they develop in ski jumping may be the greatest of all the many rewards coming out of their time in this thrilling sport. Cooper was one of a few "danglers" on the 90 meter hill Saturday afternoon. This term was coined a few years ago by announcer (and coach, and national champion) Chris Hastings to refer to jumpers so small that on the start bar of the big hill, their legs don't reach down to the track, leaving their skis dangling in the air.

Announcer, John Farnham does it all. He has been the driving force for several years in the Lebanon Outing Club in New Hampshire. He makes snow, he prepares hills, cuts tracks, he coaches and encourages junior jumpers. On occasion, he gets out his mouth organ and opens a tournament with his own rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. And when he is done with all of these, he puts on his skis and takes a few jumps, competing with his friends in Masters class. And sometimes he does these all in the same day. How does he do it? Proctor coach Tim Norris offers a simple explanation. "Jon has a big battery!"

Judges Doug Hoffman, Lake Placid, Wil Smith, Lebanon, Dan Warner, Lake Placid, Corky Colby, Lake Placid, Jim Carter, Andover NH and Chief of Competition Fred Baker, Lebanon, were responsible for three jumping competitions on two days.

Distance markers , about twenty strong, come out event after event, to stand for two or three hours on the side of the hill and tell where the jumpers land. It can be cold, windy, snowy, or dark, but Saturday these loyal volunteers enjoyed bright sunshine and the gentlest of breezes.

Distance measuring referees are no longer part of the official FIS officiating team, but Lake Placid still uses three or four experienced people to direct and regulate the measuring process. Here we see Peter Roland, sun glasses and all, and Tony Kadzius, in the yellow Park City pre-Olympic parka, who has been doing this job for over twenty years.

And Tony's wife Pat Kadzius has been spending afternoons in the cold and the shade for a couple of decades, relaying the distances via headphone to the scoring room in the judges stand. Here we see Pat (white and blue) and Kathy Conlon (blue, with clipboard) who keeps the official, written record of the distances. Every distance in the computer is compared to the numbers on this clipboard before the results are considered official.

Busman's holiday -- Bob Rollins (in green Olympic issue parka) was asked recently how many jumps he has judged in his long career. Being a numbers guy, Bob went home and thought about it. His answer was "About 6000!" This weekend, he had no judging assignment so what did he do? He came to Lake Placid with longtime friend Roland Tremblay to watch ski jumping. Just above Bob we see Matt Bimonte, Assistant Technical delegate, ex-jumper, judge and twenty year veteran of the ORDA professional hill crew.

Computer scoring is now done at all NYSEF jumping and nordic combined meets by Tony Goodwin. Here we see Tony in the computer room on the second level of the judges stand, assisted by Suzanne Baker who does the same job at the Lebanon competitions. We suspect that they turn around and watch when their sons come down the jump.

However the official scores are those computed by hand in the quiet room downstairs. Here we see, hard at work, long time announcer Jim Rogers, Gretchen Comfort (purple), Mary Shubert (red), and Bob McKillip (with eyeshade), who has been doing this job since the new Olympic hills were built in 1979. Bob's results are all compared to the computer's numbers before official results are printed and distributed.

Silhouettes in the judges stand of the official starter Jennie Frenette (left) who pushes the button to start the green light for the jumper, and judge Doug Hoffman (right). Was Jennie nervous? Her son Peter had his first jumps on the 90 meter hill.

This viewof the jumps is what the judges see as the jumper prepares to start down the track. During the competition, coaches, jumpers, family members and paying spectators jam the platform near the takeoff for a good view.

But the best view for friends and family, ex-jumpers and apprentice judges, is from the deck on the second level of the judges stand.

Warning! partial nudity, as skiers change out of their jump suits following the competition. Don West (left) is just finishing dressing as Marianne Fairall (Andover) fundraiser and JO team organizer ducks under a couple of hanging suits. (Names of naked jumpers withheld out of propriety.)

Finally snacks and awards! Not to be outdone by the Lake placid Ski Club pizza feast on Friday, NYSEF provided cake, fruit, drinks and high quality sandwich filler while Bunny Goodwin and Pearl McCahill brought delicious home made bread. We see Bunny chatting with Friday night announcer Brian Delaney, then Roland Tremblay (red), Heidi Roland partly obscured by Don West, and Tony Goodwin.

Editorial: It should be absolutely clear by now that it is this collection of volunteers, friends of ski jumping, that make it all happen. How many jumper parents can you count in the pictures and narratives above? As I chatted with Bob Rollins before the awards Saturday, I suddenly stopped, reflected and said "It is only because of the work of all these jumpers' parents that I can still ski jump." Thanks parents, indeed thanks to all you volunteers who "care about ski jumping". DCW

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