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| THE YOUNG BILLY D LETTING IT FLY! …. with the ageless and omnipresent Don West working the flag. Bill shares a story that should be an inspiration to all. Getting to the top is as easy and as hard as persevering. |
BILLY DEMONG
Age 34
Lake Placid Ski Club
Vermontville, NY/Park City, UT
When I was growing up in Vermontville, NY just on the backside of Whiteface Mountain I drove by the massive ski jumps every so often and the looming structure made a deep impression on me. It was equal parts disbelief (that one could ever ski down that 26 story ramp), fear (that someday I may find myself in that position) and yearning to try it. When Larry Stone came to our cross country practice at Dewey Mountain in Saranac Lake with a sales pitch and a sweet video of ski jumping I knew had to try it. I was not alone, that recruitment effort yielded Matt Cook, Tommy Pandorf, Chris Johnson, Sean and Tim Burke, the Cotters and few others I struggle to remember who were all eager to start and many of which jumped throughout their grade school years and some like Matt and Sean who went on to win Junior Olympics.
Although I was a physical talent on Nordic skis and could jump high on solid ground I struggled with the technique required to fly down the hill. I struggled on each step of my development from the K18 on. And though I spent years overcoming some of the steps I never gave up because I had the desire to someday learn to fly!
At times I would catch a glimpse of finally mastering the 18 or the 48 and sending some jumps over the K point with ease, but then after some time, a crash or a growth spurt I would revert to “bonking the knob.” Regardless I loved the sport and vowed to keep trying in the hopes that someday I would sail down the hill as effortlessly as the other guys like Taylor Hoffman or Tristan Handler.
When I was 16 I made a breakthrough and went from struggling to clear the blue line on the K90 to sailing down past K consistently and rapidly was able to do so with less speed and farther distance. Somehow in the space of a year I went from the ugly duckling to a swan and qualified for my first Olympic Team in 1998. For a few years I got better with each season and climbed the ranks of the World Cup culminating with a win in 2002 in Liberec, Czech. But after a disappointing Olympic Games in Salt Lake City I fell back into a slump. The slump was nearly as bad as some I had experienced growing up. I knew what I wanted to do but I couldn’t execute. It took over a year for me to regain confidence and some form on the hill and several more after that to be in position to vie for the win.
Looking back on my career I see that it was never easy. Ski jumping is a house of cards where confidence breeds confidence but with one misplaced step the confidence can erode to the foundation. Sometimes you get lucky and salvage a few levels but in the end this sport is always trying and always on the razor’s edge of catastrophe. In some respects I believe that is what drives me and my fellow ski jumpers. The passion to fly, to overcome fear and to try and be as close to godly as humanly possible with equipment as rudimentary as a foam suit and a pair of skis. When I look in the rear-view mirror the journey I took to becoming an Olympic Champion was made only more substantial and satisfying by the struggles on the path.
Last week I took my first jumps in a while and for the first time in some years I just enjoyed it for what it was… flying down a mountain on simple equipment. The feeling of a decent jump will never bore me, never be taken for granted and always be something for which I yearn.
Please! Help me ensure the future of our sport by donating to http://www.active.com/donate/USASJFUNDRAISE My mission now is to leave this sport better and brighter than I found it and to give the opportunity that I’ve been so fortunate to have to the many aspiring youth in our pipeline.
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| SHARING A MOMENT. Johnny Spillane (L) and Billy with Olympic silver and gold from the LH Nordic combined event in Vancouver 2010. |
Editor’s note-
In addition to competing at the highest level, Billy has also been a driving force in bringing USASJ and Nordic combined closer together. There’s been great progress with more to come.
To see a recap of Bill’s gold medal performance in Vancouver click here
To see Bill’s FIS bio click here
Follow Bill on Twitter at @billydemong or click here
