USA Nordic Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined

US Ski Team Nordic Sports

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Welcome to the History of American Ski Jumping

Learning to Ski Jump in 1947 ... 20th Century Fox Movie Newsreel Footage!

This is what kids were doing back in the late 1940s if they lived near a ski jump and had big dreams of flying! This 20th Century Fox newsreel footage was filmed in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and one of the featured jumpers is 2009 ASJ HOF inductee Willie Erickson, at age 11 (he’s the one who identified the year for us!). Those old enough to remember newsreels at the movies will possibly recognize the voice of the narrator, Mel Allen, famed voice of the New York Yankees. The equipment has changed, the facilities look much different today, but ski jumpers start young, on small hills, just like they did back then. Your webmaster, and many of the folks involved with the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame, will remember scenes just like these. Younger athletes will have different pictures in their heads, but they will all remember one thing they have in common ... experiencing the thrill of flight and always wanting more!

Ski Jumping Trivia: Early North American Records As often happens when you get a bunch of old ski jumpers together, a discussion took place during our 2018 Hall of Fame weekend. It was about early world records for distance, and the fact that a few of them had been set in the United States. Here’s a quick summary, and we’ll provide more on this at a later date. The first reported US distance record was set in Red Wing in 1887 by Mikkel Hemmestvedt, a Norwegian immigrant. He flew 37 feet. The existing world record had been set in Norway the previous year at 85 feet. Hemmestvedt set a new world record in 1891, soaring 102 feet in Red Wing. His brother Torjus topped that by flying 103 feet 1893, the second consecutive world record set in Red Wing. The world record was broken six more times until it reached 135 feet, set in Norway by Nils Gjestvang in 1902 (and that’s where it stood when the Wright Brothers made the first airplane flight of 120 feet in 1903). The record returned to the US midwest in 1909, this time at Chippewa Falls WI, when Oscar Gunderson flew 138 feet. That record was short- lived as records of 141 (Italy) & 148 (Switzerland) were set same year. It would return to the USA in 1911, when Anders Haugen flew 152 feet in Ironwood MI. Norway reclaimed the record in 1912, but in 1913 it was broken twice on the same day, again in Ironwood, by Ragnar Omtvedt, who sailed 158 and 169 feet. After the record was broken again in 1913 in Norway, and 1915 in Switzerland, Omtvedt brought it back to the USA with a distance of 192 feet at Steamboat Springs CO in 1916. Henry Hall then set new world records of 203 feet (1917) and 214 feet (1918) at Steamboat. The record remained in the USA for the next two years, broken by Haugen both times, but at Dillon CO, with distances of 213 feet (1919) and 214 feet (1920) . Hall would go on in 1921 to set a new record in Revelstoke BC, Canada, at 229 feet, ending quite a string of world records set in the US. Revelstoke would be the site of several more world records, the last of which was set in 1933 at a distance of 287 feet. That was the last world distance record to be set in North America. Want to know more about distance records, and see photos of ski jumping in bygone years, see Other Resources page via link in top navigation bar.

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US Olympic Ski Jumpers 1924 - 2018 (click column title to sort)

SkiJumpingUSA.com

Skiing Heritage Magazine International Skiing History Association

National Ski Hall of Fame

2022 ASJ Hall of Fame Nominations Due June 30 Our annual Hall of Fame banquet will be held Saturday, August 20 in Red Wing, and we’re accepting nominations until the end of June. See Nominations page via button in navigation bar above for details on the nomination process, and a link to the nomination form.

We are planning a community event on May 21st at the Ski Jumping Hall of Fame Museum, located in Red Wing. Olympic and US Ski Team Ski Jumpers from various eras will be on hand to answer question/s that may come up on displays or history regarding the sport of Ski Jumping. It will be held from 1:00 - 4:00 pm, and we will have coffee and cookies for the public to enjoy. Peter Geye (a former ski jumper) will be on hand to promote his book that will be coming out in September called "The Ski Jumpers". An invite has been sent out to Patrick Mader to attend as he has two books "Minnesota Gold" and "More Minnesota Gold" which features some Olympians in Ski Jumping also. Looking forward to meeting many local people at this great event!

Community Event May 21st at Museum in Red Wing

Annual ASJ Hall of Fame Banquet Sat Aug 20, 2022 We’re looking forward to another get-together to honor inductees into our American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame on Aug 20. It will be held at the Red Wing Golf Course, 1311 W 6th Street in Red Wing, MN. Golf will begin at 12 noon, a shotgun start. Social hour will be at 5 pm and Banquet at 6 pm. Cost has not yet been announced but will be posted here once the menu is finalized.