SWSA jumper takes talents to next level

SALISBURY — Islay Sheil, tenth grader at Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) and Lakeville resident, has joined the long tradition of ski jumping in Salisbury.

Salisbury’s tradition of ski jumping began in 1925 when the Satre brothers, John, Olaf, and Magnus immigrated from Norway and brought ski jumping and cross-country skiing with them. According to local legend, one brother demonstrated by skiing off the roof of a barn. They established the Salisbury Outing Club which later became the Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA). The first ski jumping competition was held in January of 1927.

The Sheils discovered the ski jump in December of 2020, when they came to Salisbury from New York City to escape Covid and find a “sense of community” during the pandemic. Their thoughts went to downhill skiing, but Billy Sheil read an ad about Holiday Ski Jump Camp in The Lakeville Journal and the family decided to see what it was about.

From that start, Islay began her path to competition with the help of longtime Junior Ski Jumping Coach, Larry Stone of SWSA. She made the Junior National Team in February of 2024 and went to Anchorage, Alaska to compete in March. She earned a bronze medal in the team event with Caroline Chor, teammate from the Ford Sayre Ski Club in New Hampshire.

Islay explained about ski jumping, “I like being in the air and flying. It is super cool.” She also “likes the sense of community.”

According to her father, “Islay trains in Lake Placid around twenty weekends a year.” This winter, Islay will go to Lake Placid for the months of January and February and train six days a week there. She will keep up her studies with tutors. “Ian Strever, principal of HVRHS, has been incredibly supportive,” commented Billy Sheil.

Islay has no problem with her schedule of training and school. “It’s not hard to fit everything in. I’m never behind in school. I make time for it all.”

Islay spends ten months a year training. “When there is no snow, ski jumpers train on aluminum or porcelain tracks, and the hill is covered with plastic. Sprinklers wet the surface to replicate conditions,” explained her father. “She also does dry land training, working on stretching and imitation moves called IMO’s that replicate jumping, along with light weight training and playing soccer and lacrosse to stay fit.”

It is a male dominated sport, “but the East has a great group of committed female jumpers who are making strides and supporting one another,” said Billy Sheil. “Islay really likes these girls and respects them.”

Islay feels that ski jumping attracts more males because “It’s the fight or flight risk. Your mind thinks it’s unsafe.” Referring to jumping from a height that most people would shy away from. She feels “Younger boys are less cautious, more fearless.”

Does her mother, Kristin, ever worry, seeing Islay poised to jump? “I have faith in her coaches.” She is confident they would not ask Islay to do something for which she is not ready.

“Islay recently returned from a ski jumping tournament in Chicago where she got to jump on a 70-meter hill, which “we don’t have in the East,” said her father. There she competed against girls from across the United States. On October 19-20 she went back to Lake Placid to train with U.S. National Team jumper Paige Jones.

Her goals for the future? “I want to be able to jump the 120-meter jump and to make the National Team.” But she added, “In a while, not right away.”