The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Catching air
Jumpfest draws crowds, athletes to Salisbury's Satre Hill
SALSBURY — Crowds of ski fans and athletes gathered at Satre Hill in Salisbury for the 97th annual Jumpfest, the oldest ski jumping competition in New England and one of only six ski jump competitions on the East Coast, according to Salisbury Winter Sports Association members.
Athletes including Olympic contenders and some of the best junior ski jumpers in the United States competed Satuday and Sunday, including in the Eastern Division National Ski Jump Competition, according to the association.
In the winter of 1926, Salisbury resident John Satre jumped off the roof of his shed wearing skis, to show his friends and neighbors a sport he learned in his native Norway, according to Satre Hill’s website. Town residents were so amazed that they decided to build a proper ski run that summer, and form the Salisbury Winter Sports Association. The association hosted the first ski jump competition in January 1927.
Satre was not only prolific at ski jumping, he also was a good teacher, said Willie Hallihan of North Canaan, who has been involved with Jumpfest for about 25 years.
“That was the impact John Satre and his fellow countrymen who came had,” Hallihan said. “If he had just been a great jumper and Nordic skier, it would have been a footnote in the town’s history. But he and his fellow countrymen were great teachers. They taught the locals how to do the same. That teaching tradition has carried on.”
Most of Jumpfest’s organizers, Hallihan included, aren’t ski jumpers. They do it, he said, for the love of the event itself, which sees talented young ski jumpers descend upon Salisbury each year.
The weekend also welcomed serious and competitive young ski jumpers, who competed in the Salisbury Invitational Tournament on Saturday and the Eastern U.S. Ski Jumping Championships on Sunday. Winning in the latter event can earn an athlete a position on the eastern division team for the 2022 USA Nordic
Combined Junior Nationals, which will also be held in Salisbury Feb. 22-26.
The path to becoming a great ski jumper can start in Salisbury, Hallihan said. They offer winter camps teaching young athletes how to jump and through their teaching traditions have built a pipeline of decorated ski jumpers who return to the area to pass on their own skills.
The weekend activities usually include a “human dog sled” race and activities on Friday night, but the freezing temperatures and icy wind canceled those events this year.