(Ski) Jumping for Joy in Salisbury

SALISBURY, Conn. — It isn’t often that an event that is planned by many, participated in by many, and attended by still more makes everyone happy. But that seems to have been the case with the very successful Jump Fest hosted over the weekend by the Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA).

This was the 81st annual for what has become a signature event in Salisbury for the year. It attracts athletes from all over New England, enthusiastic audiences from at least three states, and amateur and professional ice carvers from all over Connecticut. The jumps and associated events are planned months in advance — but no matter how carefully they are prepared and obsessed over, everything hinges on the weather.

Despite the unseasonably warm early months of this winter, Mother Nature kicked in and made an extraordinary effort last month. Temperatures dropped enough so that the SWSA (pronounced swah-suh by locals) snow machines could do their thing; this year, for the first time in recent memory, there was so much snow on the jumping tower and landing strip (known as the outrun) that the work of the exhausted, frost-covered volunteers was done by Wednesday. For a change, they had a chance to actually get some sleep before the fun began.

This year, for the first time, festivities commenced on Friday night with a "target jump." Nationally ranked jumpers sailed off the tower and did their best to hit an illuminated target on the ground. Junior jumper Peter Frenette, who trains in Lake Placid, was the winner of the event. Some 300 adults and kids came out that evening, a substantial turnout for the first-time night jump. The evening ended with a concentrated burst of 15 minutes of fireworks from the top of the jump tower.

Attendance remained high for the rest of the weekend, with about 500 tickets purchased for Saturday’s Salisbury Invitational Ski Jumps (children under 12 entered free, so it’s hard to get an accurate attendance estimate). On Sunday, about 700 tickets were sold for the U.S. Eastern Ski Jumping Championship, which is a national event and attracts Olympic contenders.

Jumpers love to come to Salisbury. The crowds turn out in large numbers to cheer them on, and they are allowed to stand mere feet away from the center of the landing strip. They whistle, stomp and shake old-fashioned cow bells after an especially fine flight.

The jump itself is also unique. Most eastern jumps are either smaller than the 65 meters of the Satre Hill tower, or they are 90 meters long.

"This is the only 65 meter jump in the east," said SWSA member Willie Hallihan. "[Legendary jumping coach] Larry Stone says it’s a perfect first chance for jumpers to experience ‘flying’ off the tower. With the smaller jumps, they just go off and they land. When they do the 90-meter jumps for the first time, they’re just trying to survive. But when they go off the 65-meter jump, they find out what it feels like to fly."

SWSA member Elvia Gignoux said that one of the best parts of this jump weekend was watching younger jumpers increase in finesse and confidence over the course of the three days. Luke Daniels, a 10-year-old who jumps with a club out of Massachusetts, made it to the 39-meter mark on his first jumps. By the end of the day Sunday, he was stretching his tips out to the 52-meter mark.

Included in the jumps on Saturday and Sunday were competitions for junior jumpers, senior jumpers and women jumpers. Nina Lussi, who trains in Lake Placid, won the Sherwood Ladies Cup. Her longest jump was 59.5 meters.

The longest distance on Saturday was jumped by Andrew Bliss, who trains in Lake Placid; his combined jumps totaled 235.4 meters. He was also the victor on Sunday, with a combined jump total of 229.1 meters.

Second place honors on both days went to Nicholas Alexander (Lake Placid; combined totals of 216.1 meters on Saturday and 220.6 meters on Sunday). Third place on Saturday went to Alex Madden (Lake Placid, total of 208.3 meters) and on Sunday went to Pete Freire (Lake Placid, 220.6 meters).

The weather was perfect for jumping, Gignoux said. It was cold enough to keep the snow in good shape on the tower and outrun, but not so cold that it kept spectators away. There was a light snow on Saturday. And winds were mild.

Best of all, from the point of view of SWSA members, the (very expensive) silver SWSA trophy remains in the hands of the association. To take it home, a jumper has to win the Salisbury Invitational three times.

Conditions were also excellent for the popular ice carving competition, which was held Saturday on the Green in front of The White Hart Inn.

Ice carvers did demonstrations on Friday night. The carvings will remain on display, along Salisbury’s Main Street, until the sun comes out.