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Ski jumps put back to work this weekend

Ski jumping, nordic combined championships in town
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Exciting return to action The last time the jumps were used for ski jumping was during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Photo by Brad kasselman/ coastphotostore.com

It's been more than two years since the ski jump facilities at Whistler Olympic Park have been used for their intended purpose, but as of this past Saturday the ski jumpers were back training at the multi-million dollar facility while preparing for the national championship competitions taking place Saturday, March 31.

There will be a long jump competition at 9 a.m., a normal hill competition at 11 a.m. and a nordic combined race at 1:30 p.m. using the normal hill and surrounding cross-country trails. Admission is free for spectators.

The last time the jumps were used for ski jumping was during the 2010 Winter Games. Several events were held before that including World Cup test events for both ski jumping and nordic combined. At one point, the $30 million jumps were considered a temporary addition to the $122.4 million Whistler Olympic Park facility, but after the Games it was acknowledged that there was nothing to prevent the jumps from remaining as a permanent facility. The Callaghan Winter Sports Club has also obtained funding to build training jumps and host events to build support for the sport locally.

Brent Morrice, the chair of Ski Jumping Canada, said they were excited to return to the facility and were planning to host regular camps and competitions in Whistler in the lead-up to the 2014 Games in Sochi.

"We're hoping to do this annually, especially leading up to the 2014 Olympics," confirmed Morrice. "It's a fantastic facility and the more we can get to use it, the better.

"Obviously the proximity (to the national centre in Calgary) and the expense to get it up and running is a little bit prohibitive, but we're working around that."

Keith Bennett, the president and CEO of Whistler Sport Legacies, said that the future of ski jumping at the Olympic park will be "defined by the sport and their ability to fund the ski jump operation." As far as that goes, he hopes that the inclusion of women into ski jumping at the Olympic level will result in more funding to the sport.

Whistler Sport Legacies gets a share of Games Operating Trust funding to keep Whistler's Olympic venues running, but at the time the agreement was signed the ski jumps were expected to be temporary and were not provided for in the trust.

This Saturday's competitions will cost up to $60,000 to stage, and are being jointly produced by Ski Jumping Canada, Own the Podium and Whistler Sport Legacies. Preparations include everything from shovelling out staircases and in-runs along the side of the course, to grooming the landing area. The wind and technical systems also need to be set up, as well as a video system to measure distances and a computer to record and share scores with spectators.

There are a lot of important similarities between Whistler and Sochi, said Morrice, including the elevation, the type of snow and the shape of the jumps themselves.

"It's a new (jump) design and Sochi is going be very similar to this," he said.

"Calgary is a much older design. The jump profile in Calgary is older, and we don't have the large hill, just the normal hill. So to use a large hill in our training we either have to go to Park City or Whistler."

The national team has also been competing overseas, training at facilities in Europe and around the world. Since the announcement last summer that women's ski jumping would be included in the 2014 Games the total funding for the sport has increased to $314,000 from Own the Podium. It remains one of the lowest-funded sports with only biathlon and nordic combined receiving less this year, but an additional grant of $72,000 was provided through Sport Canada's Sport Support Program.

However, Morrice is confident that the Canadians are getting stronger.

"We've had some fantastic results in the last year and a half and we're just moving forward," he said. "Using this facility will do nothing but help our results."

Some of the highlights from this past season include:

• Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes broke the Canadian Ski Flying distance record with a jump of 194 metres in Norway on Feb. 23. Ski Flying is a variation of ski jumping taking place on a much larger hill, with competitors regularly clearing over 200 metres. The world record, set on the same jump in Norway, is 246 metres.

• Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes competed on the World Cup circuit this season where he cracked the top 30 for the first time, finishing 29th. He also cracked the top 30 several times in qualifiers. His best result was a bronze medal in a Continental Cup competition in Japan, which is one step below World Cup.

• Taylor Heinrich was the top female jumper for Canada this season, ranking 46th on the World Cup. She was part of a Canadian team that placed third at the Youth Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, and was fifth in the individual event. She was also 17th at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships and was ninth at a Continental Cup competition in Czech Republic back in February.

Despite the participation of American and German jumpers in the Canadian Championships this weekend, Morrice is predicting that Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes and Taylor Heinrich will finish on top.

"I think Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes has a good chance of winning it, even though the Americans and Germans are there," he said. "And Taylor Heinrich should be the top competitor on the female side."

How Ski Jumping Works

Ski jumping takes place on an inclined ramp with a steep landing area (35 degrees at Whistler Olympic Park).

The skis are long, up to 275 centimetres and wider than normal skis. The athletes are attached at the toe to the ski, allowing them to position themselves over their skis while flying off the end of the ramp and to perform telemark-style landings.

Competitions are decided based on score, with points awarded based on the distance travelled and for style to ensure that the athletes are using the proper form and landing safely. It's rare that style points decide a contest but it has happened when the jumpers are close.

The sport itself dates back to 1809 when a Norwegian soldier jumped almost 10 metres in the air in front of other soldiers. It quickly caught on and by 1862 the athletes were flying over 30 metres.

Whistler Olympic Park has two jumps:

The normal hill is a 106-metre hill with a K-Point (average landing area) at 95 metres. The record on that hill, 109.5 metres, was set by Adam Malysz of Czech Republic during the Winter Games.

The long hill is a 140-metre slope with a K-Point at 125 metres. The hill record is 149 metres, set by Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria during the Olympic Games.

How Nordic Combined Works

Nordic Combined merges the sports of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. The first part of the competition is the ski jump, which will determine seeding for the individual start cross-country race. The events are weighted so athletes need to be proficient at both jumping and ski racing.

The results are combined at the end of the day to establish the overall winner.