Soaring to glory in Salisbury

SALISBURY — Jumpfest 2024 was filled with constant competition at Satre Hill.

The action began on Friday, Feb. 2 with target jumping under the lights. Cooper Dodds won $500 in prize money donated by the Churchill family. He landed on the paint for a 65-meter jump.

The fan-favorite Human Dogsled Race did not disappoint. Enthusiastic teams dashed across the snow with a custom carriage in tow.

Saturday morning started with U10 females jumping on the 20-meter hill, which was won by Maple Billings of Brattleboro, Vermont. The “six-and-a-half” year-old jumped 10-meters and her combined point total from two jumps earned her 83.9 points, followed by SWSA’s Oona Mascavage with 31.9 points, then SWSA’s Aerin Sheil at 29.9 points.

In the U10 male category Wyeth Taylor earned gold with a total of 118.9 points, followed by silver medalist Caleb Bodwell at 100.4 points and bronze medalist Henry Sheil at 46.8 points. All U10 male athletes represented SWSA at Jumpfest.

Leila Fey of New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF) won the U12 female competition with a total of 144.5 points. Ford Sayre’s Ava Joyal took second with 102.8 points and Catherine Chor placed third with 122.9 points.

The U12 male group was won by Dylan Cote of Ford Sayre with 152.2 total points. Andover Outing Club’s Ethan Gong took second with 141.6 points and Lebanon Outing Club’s Elet McCusker placed third with 136.4 points.

Three female SWSA jumpers competed in the K20 Open. Victoria Bertapelle won with 119.3 points, follow by Alexandra Philipp with 87.9 points and Bridget Metcalf with 84.3 points.

Proctor Academy’s Burke Pekala earned gold in the K20 Open male group with 162.3 points and the longest jump of the day from this hill: 15.5 meters. Matthew Tourville of Andover Outing Club took silver at 141.9 points and Wesley Leonard of Ford Sayre got bronze with 133.3 points.

Action the moved over to the 30-meter hill. Andover Outing Club’s Hailey Garnsey was the lone competitor in the K30 Open female group. She jumped 19 meters and earned 91 total points.

Burke Pekala won the K30 Open male category with a long jump of 29.5 meters and 196.5 points. Spencer Jones of Harris Hill Nordic placed second at 179.5 points and Boyd Schaefer took third with 161.5 points.

Saturday’s action concluded with The Salisbury Invitational on the Big Hill, a 65-meter jump. The US Cup K65 female group got things started. Caroline Chor of Ford Sayre took gold with 85.9 points, followed by Andover’s Kerry Tole at 36.9 points and SWSA’s Islay Sheila at 32.9 points.

Jack Kroll of NYSEF took gold in the US Cup K65 male group with the longest jump of the weekend, a whopping 71 meters, and 241.4 total points. His teammates Henry Loher and Max Fey took second and third with 228.4 and 214.1 points respectively.

In the Senior and Masters K65, Evan Nichols jumped 70.5 meters, Cooper Dodds jumped 61 meters, and Seth Garden jumped 58 meters.

Sunday began with the 2024 Eastern U.S. Ski Jumping Championship to determine the eastern division of the Junior National Team.

In the Female K65 competition, Caroline Chor took gold with 83.6 points, followed by Kerry Tole 34.4 points and Islay Sheil with 21.1 points.

The U16 male title was won by Henry Loher with 237.3 points. Max Fey took second with 228.7 points and NYSEF’s Eli Larkin took third with 191.6 points.

Jack Kroll earned gold in the U20 male category with a 68-meter jump and 215.5 points. NYSEF’s Schuyler Klapp took silver with 191 points and Andover’s Mychal Reynolds took bronze with 116.1 points.

Jumpfest concluded with Evan Nichols and Seth Gardner competing in the Senior K65. Nichols won with a leap of 68 meters and Gardner maxed out at 46 meters.

Tom Brown

Schuyler Klapp stared down the K65 jump in the U20 Eastern U.S. Ski Jumping Championship.