SWSA still jumping, despite soupy temps

SALISBURY —Signs are appearing on roadsides in town advertising the new Alpine Ski Jumping Winter Carnival Jan. 25 to 27. This could easily be confused with the annual Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA) ski jumps, which will be held next month as part of the three-day Jumpfest (Feb. 8 to 10).The more traditional Jumpfest features good old-fashioned ski jumping, the kind you see at the Winter Olympics.This weekend’s Alpine jumping events, which are also sponsored by SWSA, are a little more edgy, the extreme version of ski jumping. The contestants will come mainly from out West and they will attempt to negotiate the K70 hill at Satre Hill (behind LaBonne’s and the Scoville Library) using traditional downhill skis and poles.Ski jumping has changed a bit over the years, but actual ski jumpers do still use special equipment. And instead of poles, they rely on grooves cut into the ice and snow of the inrun (also known as the tower or the ramp) to guide them toward the takeoff — the point where they launch themselves into the air. For those who are still confused, but intrigued, a little bit of history might be helpful. The first jumps were held here more than 75 years ago, started by a now-legendary local, John Satre, who moved here from Norway and brought his expertise in skiing and jumping to the Northwest Corner.Local legend has it that a group of boys was piling up snow in front of St. John’s Church on Main Street and then skiing off the top. A man walked up to them, and according to Jimmy Dubois, one of the kids who was there at the time (but who has since passed away, in his mid-90s), “He asked if we’d let him ‘yump.’ It was the first time we’d ever heard the word ‘yump.’ So we said, yeah, you can ‘yump.’”That man was John Satre. The first competition-scale jump was constructed farther down Main Street, near the intersection with Salmon Kill Road and eventually a 65-meter wooden jump tower was constructed on a hill off Indian Cave Road, behind Scoville Library. That tower was recently replaced by a sturdier tower that is known as a K70.SWSA has taken charge of the jumps, which now include the U.S. Eastern jumping championships held on the Sunday of the weekend-long competition. The Saturday jumps are called the Salisbury Invitational; jumpers compete for the silver SWSA Cup. They have to win the Salisbury Invitational three times to earn the cup.Olympic and international stars have lived and competed here over the past three-quarters of a century. Many of them made their homes here as well. Two brothers of John Satre, Ottar and Magnus, lived in Salisbury and were on the U.S. cross country skiing and ski jumping teams for the famous 1936 Olympics in Germany, as was Salisbury resident and long-time local instructor Birger Torrissen.A skier from a younger generation, John Harney Jr., said it was an incredible experience to learn skiing as a youngster here. Torrissen and Ole Hegge, known in Norway as “The King of Skiing,” would call out encouragement as the children whizzed by them.“These men were living legends,” Harney said, still sounding awestruck years later. Harney himself was an alternate member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic cross-country ski team. Hegge competed in the 1928 and 1932 Olympics and was named Best Ski Jumper in the World one year.Olle Zetterstrom, a native of Sweden, lived in North Canaan and Norfolk and was on the U.S. ski team for the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid and Mary Bird Young of Sharon was in the first women’s downhill and slalom ski races in the 1938 games.Roy Sherwood, who still lives in Salisbury, competed in the 1956 games in Italy as a jumper. Sherwood in the 1950s jumped in the style that was fashionable in those days (earlier jumpers actually held their arms straight out in front of their heads, like Superman or a high diver). Contemporary jumpers use what is known as the V-formation. To learn more about SWSA, Alpine jumping, Jumpfest and more, keep an eye on the pages of The Lakeville Journal and visit the SWSA website at www.jumpfest.org.