THEY SIT, THEY STAND, THEY FLY!
The woman in the thick foam suit is wearing skis that are nine feet long. She places them on the green fringes that line the 90-meter "Normal" Hill, then slowly eases her butt over to sit in the center of the round, two-inch gray metal bar. In front of her is a near-vertical slope of more green fringe, and way, way down below that are the tiny figures of the thick crowd.
A small rectangle to her left shows a yellow light. It turns green, and she looks to the platform on her right, a hundred feet below, where her coach stands with a dozen other coaches, holding up his arm. He drops it, and she stands up. Her skis move and gain speed, she holds her arms behind her as she reaches 40--50--60 miles an hour, and then she flies off the end of the green inrun, into the air as the slope continues to drop away beneath her.
She is soaring through the air, flying, with her body stretched forward and her arms behind her, and she drops to the green fringe with joy on her face, slides across the grass and comes to a stop, the whoops and applause of the crowd unheard as she relives the jump in her mind.
The weather was not kind to the women in this year's Continental Cup, but the jumping was better than ever. Pink-haired Austrian Danielia Iraschko won both competitions (96.5/99.5: 226.5/221.5 pts.). Anette Sagen, second both days (103/99.0: 216.0/221.0 pts.), landed a 103-meter leap which would have topped the podium had she not fallen in the first contest. And some things were different this year.
The crowd, which increases every contest, was nearly double last year's numbers. The event ran flawlessly, though wind canceled Saturday's Cup and a bucket-dumping thunder-and-rain storm delayed Sunday's event.
But the biggest difference was the tone over the continued and inexplicable exclusion of women from Olympic ski jumping. Up to this point, everyone has been meek and mild, scared of even slightly offending the powerful officials of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Now, anger is starting to emerge, though it has yet to fully erupt.
Former Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini, President of Woman's Ski Jumping USA, said the IOC keeps changing its reasons for not allowing women to jump in the Olympics. "Every time we come back with an argument that counters one of their excuses, there's another excuse. There are now 17 countries that have women ski jumpers, and we're not going to give up!" she said.
The original excuse that women are not good enough is long gone. In a Continental Cup in Japan last season, American icon Lindsay Van won the contest, outjumping all the men.
Parents and even jumpers are becoming more outspoken against the Olympic old boys network of discrimination. Michael Jerome, brother of top U. S. jumper Jessica Jerome and also a jumper, said that if he had one wish, "My wish would be for the IOC to change their mind and let the girls jump in the 2010 Olympics, and for me to make the Olympic team and have it be a year with my sister and I in the Olympics together."
Saturday's Cup was scheduled to begin at 4:30, but erratic wind gusts kept delaying the event. It was only slight breezes at the bottom of the jump, but higher, a sudden deadly gust could blow an airborne jumper off the track to smash into the surrounding trees.
Judges finally canceled Saturday's event, rescheduling it for 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
Ski jumping is a wind-driven sport. A tail wind, good in most sports, is bad in ski jumping. The athletes want a head wind; because air coming towards them will lift their skis and make them float, which means a longer time in the air and thus, a longer jump. That's why jumpers lean forward while in the air, with their body like a sail to catch as much wind as possible.
The coaches platform just across from the take-off point is the place to watch an event. The coaches, many of whom are excitable Europeans, each signal their own athletes when to go. The jumper will still be in the air when the coaches realize it's a corker jump, and they all start high-fiving the triumphant coach. They whistle and cheer as each athletes skis down the inrun with the skis making a loud roaring hiss.
Some hold flags to signal their athletes when to go. The Canadian coach had a flagholder shaped like a hockey stick.
Up at the start, the view is frightening to non-jumpers. The long inrun seems as steep as the side of a building. One misstep while trying to edge out to sit on the bar, and the jumper will roll down the abrasive green fringe, unable to stop for hundreds of feet.
Asked if she ever felt fear, American jumper Jessica Jerome said, "No. It's all technique. There are a hundred different things you have to do right with your body." The 20-year-old is attending college, majoring in economics, as she pursues her career.
These masters of air even train up high. Against the only wall of the wide platform in back of the start is a squat rack, free weights, and resistance cords. Jumpers train there, under a roof, but open to the air.
Overall winner Iraschko knew how to make use of the two resistance cords hanging from the rafters. Before her start, she took time to grab the cords, one in each hand, and jump four times; a way to prime her plyometric spring for the takeoff. It worked.
Later, she said of the venue where she has podiumed every year, "I like this hill, it's an awesome place." As for her spiky pink hair, she grins shyly, saying, "It is my favorite color, it brings luck."
Big things are predicted for one of the lesser known American jumpers. In last year's Continental Cup, Avery Ardovino was a bouncy 14-year-old, overwhelmingly excited at the chance to jump with her heroes, Van and Jerome. This year she is one of them, named to the first U. S. women's ski jumping team, a rising star. Right now, Ardovino has a slight problem: learning to manage her new body. She has grown six inches in less than a year, requiring longer skis with each growth spurt. She has changed skis four times since last year.
The next part of the women's ski jumping story is a biggie: A lawsuit in Canada, home of the 2010 Games, because the organizers took government money to help build the jumps. Discrimination is prohibited in connection with government funding. The lawsuit may be the final goad that makes the IOC back down and let women fly in the Vancouver Games.