2009 Madison Winter Festival

 

 

Early photos …

MANY MANY GREAT PIX YET TO COME !

Nicole Deyong and Kristin Strandberg

 

 

Bryan Cook / Brian Gregg /

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that weather was scary …

59 degrees in February?

Save it for April !

However, winter continues in Madison this weekend

with the Winter Festival !

I’ll be there shooting the Super Tour events

and what I can catch of the high school races.

Full listing is here.

I was there last year and it was a blast.

 

Of course I shot video!

There’s three parts !

So, if you can’t make it, check back here

and I’ll show you what I found.

2009 Pre-Birkie

 

 

Photos are posted !

HERE

 

Ken Statz leads 800+ skiers off Lake Hayward.

Warm snow made for sticky going, but here’s your winners:

  

My apologies to Paulette Nieme of Ironwood, MI

who won the 42k women's race.

I walked away from the line a

mere 2 minutes before she finished! 

CHeck out all the rest -  HERE

Now git going!!

 

(I know these are pretty crude, but stick with me

I’ll get it down … eventually!    LOL )

Oh yeah, I didn’t make the  jumping Sunday at Westby, too many

miles logged in the car Fri and Sat to do more Sun. Sorry !

Next up: Madison Winter Fest

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: