Eau Claire SuperTour Jumping – Hill 3 of 5

 

 

This was day one of the third hill of the “Five Hills Super Tour” held at the Silvermine Jumping Stadium in EauClaire, WI. Big crowd, big hill, big jumps. What a hoot !!

  

  

See 10 year old Trevor Edlund go 90 meters on my YouTube video.

On Saturday, he went 100 + !!

The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram has a nice write up on the competition here and also a very nice slide show here. You can see the rest of MY pictures here. Will I be back next year? HECK YEAH !!

NEXT WEEK:

PRE-BIRKIE

HUDSON HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL

120 meter jumping from Westby, WI !

 

followed by the Big Kahuna, the “BIG B” !

Minneapolis Ski Jumping Tourney

 

This was the first time I was at the Bush Lake Ski Jumps in Bloomington  and I was impressed. I have to get back there to see it again, more from the top than the bottom. It was a cold, snowy night in Minnesota, very difficult from the stand point of taking pictures, so don’t look for crystal clear, razor sharp focus. I think they have more of an ‘old world’ artsy feel. If it weren’t for the US flag in the background, these could have been taken in old Oslo, Norway.

More from this series yet to come. It takes time to adjust contrast and noise levels. I have a great one of three jumpers cresting the knoll at the same time … has to be seen to be believed! The whole series is here.

I’ll be in Eau Claire tomorrow evening for the jumping there, then I have to return home to Milwaukee to work the weekend, so no Super Tour XC for me. (Boooo!) The good news is that I WILL make the Birkie after all. I’ll be looking for the great Bjorn Dahlie who, last I heard, will still be skiing it this year. So, if you find yourself skiing next to him, don’t go looking for pictures of yourself from MY lens! LOL!

Gud Tur.

Olympic style ski jumping in Chicago !

 

Sunday was the 104th annual Winter Jumping Tourney at

the Norge Ski Club in suburban Chicago.

This was the first time I had ever been there and not only

did I take pix, I shot video too.

 

 

It was a great experience, I highly recommend it.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m skipping the Lapham Peak Wednesday night sprints and driving up to the Minneapolis Ski Club for their International Tournament, the second part of the Five Hills Super Tour on their 70 meter hill.

 

Then, Friday I’ll be going up to Eau Claire for the third stop of the Five Hills Super Tour as they jump the 90 METER hill !

 

I’ll bring you more pictures and video of these tournaments, so be sure to come back ! (then it’s back to XC racing again)

 

Just rolled in from MSP.

Tough shooting conditions – night lights, foggy, snowing.

Here’s a sample, more to follow:

Wisconsin Biathlon Winter Festival

- - -

Location – McMiller Biathlon Range, Eagle, WI

Conditions – Sunny, light wind, Zero degrees F.

Racing action – HOT !

The Wisconsin Biathlon Association’s first ski

race in southeast Wisconsin is in the books.

About a dozen skiers raced three times around

the 2 km rolling ski course stopping twice

along the way to shoot, once standing, once laying

on the ground, at the 5 targets.

The individual start format separated skiers by

30 seconds initially, but it wasn’t long

before competitors were racing head to head out

on the course.

A beginner's race with instruction and help

from experienced biathletes was held in the

afternoon,but in the morning it was all business

complete with Anschutz rifles and

grim determination.

Race organizer Paul LeBlanc humbly states

that “It’s a start” but I’m confident it’s not the end

of Biathlon at McMiller !

Take a look at more pix uploaded HERE.

and check out their web page, linked on the right –>

- - - - - -

 

This was day one in my ‘Winter Olympics’ weekend.

- Next up –

 

Ski Jumping at Chicago’s 104 year old

Norge Ski Club !

- - -

Wednesday night at Lapham

- - -

It was a nice night for skiing:  15F,  partly cloudy

with some stars in the sky. The snow was good,

grooming perfect. There was a pretty good turnout

too.

 

   

 

Tonights winner

– Michael Eckert (C.R.A.P. Racing) -

with a blistering time of 10:48

 

 

Gary Hovila – 2nd in 10:51

 

 

3rd – John Hallett in 11:05

 

Josh North (C.R.A.P. Racing) – 7th in 11:27

 

Brad Tagget

All the pix available HERE , results HERE  .

These are in a PHotobucket gallery, so just grab ‘em

if you want ‘em.

Most didn’t turn out well enough to make good

prints, but should be fine for your blog, Facebook, or

avatar.

I know many of you will be in the Yoop doing the

Noquemanon Ski Marathon, so be sure to check out

the pix from the biathlon race at McMiller that I’ll

be shooting on Saturday. Then Sunday is the winter

jumping tournament in Chicago. I’ve been trying to

secure permission to shoot on this private club site

but have yet to have anyone reply to my requests.

With nothing else going on (ski wise) this side of

Duluth, I guess I’m going to go with my gear in hopes

of shooting and see what happens. It should be

interesting either way.

 

SKI ON !

 

 

 

Lapham Peak Loppet

Chad Tolbert (C.R.A.P Racing) makes it two in a row!

As the leaders crested “The Peak” for the first time,

it was a group of four, tightly bunched.

The second, and last time over the top, it was down to three leaders

as they dropped down to the final loop down below.

Hopefully someone got a good photo of the finish, because by the results

Chad must have won it by a toe!

1 CHAD TOLBERT 34 M 00:30:59
2 CHRISTIAN BREKKE 26 M 00:30:59
3 BRENT WESOLEK 37 M 00:31:44
4 DOUG BODUCH 39 M 00:32:32
5 JAN MYRDA 37 M 00:32:33
6 JOSH NORTH 28 M 00:32:50
7 GARY HOVILA 44 M 00:32:51
8 JESSE COENEN 26 M 00:32:54
9 GREG GREENE 53 M 00:33:11
10 NATE ROEDL 13 M 00:33:11
11 JOHN HALLETT 44 M 00:33:12

Also congratulations to KATIE BREKKE who won the women’s division.

37 KATIE BREKKE 23 F 00:38:16 1OVERALL

Is one of these skiers her?

I sure don’t know, because the results don’t have skier’s bib #’s listed!

(grrrrrr … )

Oh, well. See all of YOUR pictures from this race HERE.

I’ll be at Lapham again this week for the Wednesday races followed by the first

ever Biathlon race at McMiller on Saturday and the 104th annual ski

jumping tournament at Fox River Grove, IL on Sunday.

Following that, I will be at the Pre-Birkie.

See ‘ya down the trail!

UPDATE!!!

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF THE PHOTO FINISH!

Thanks to "10ftback" for capturing that!

Lapham Peak – Wednesday night sprint

Brrrr. It was a chilly one at +2F but at least the wind wasn’t blowing like it was forecasted to. A small gathering of hardy souls ventured out and made it look just too easy.

  

    

Photos of the leaders didn’t turn out like I would have liked, but fear not, I’ll get you guys in the next race. No problem! Tonight’s best shots HERE.

Stay warm !!

2009 Greenbush Ski Race and Winterfest – Results

After having the first two races of the season here in SE Wisconsin cancelled due to lack of snow, it was great to finally get this racing season underway!

Warm ups:

    

The racing begins – Middle School:

 

High School:

 

Open Class:

Oyvind Solvang leads the pack from the start:

    

But Chad Tolbert was today’s champion.

     

   

The trails were in great shape, so be sure to hug your local groomer!

 

And a big thank you to the organizers for putting on a wonderful race.

(and not giving me a citation for walking on the first 100 meters of trail ! )

All of YOUR pictures are now posted HERE !

I had a great time … see you at Lapham.