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| Chris Jones finding exhilaration of a different sort. |
STORY No. 51
MARTIN JONES
Age 62
Sutton Mills, N.H.
Andover Outing Club
When I’m talking with someone and they find out that my sons are ski jumpers, invariably the next sentence will be; “Doesn’t it scare you to watch them doing that?”. The true answer is on a certain level it does. The answer I give them is, ” No, not really because I’ve seen their progression up the ladder of the sport, and I feel they are safe doing it.” Those who only witness the sport on rare occasions, or view it every 4 years on their TVs don’t notice the smaller hills, usually off to the side of the bigger one they are watching athletes fly from. I try to explain that almost without exception, most ski jumpers begin their participation in the sport by learning on a 10 meter jump, usually on their own alpine skis. From there the process of learning and growing comfortable proceeds at a safe pace to incrementally larger jumps and someday they may find themselves getting ready to slide off the bar of a 90 meter jump. How they get to that point, and at what pace has always been something that has intrigued me about jumping.
In the East most jumpers begin on a local hill 10-K. For those who begin here in Andover as my sons did; the next step for them, and most all jumpers who have skied for Tim Norris, and John Fulton was our 15/18-K jump. Next it was the old (now non-existent ) Newport 20. Then an evening with Jon “Cannonball” Farnham, and you were off the Lebanon 25-K. Back to Andover and our 30-K, eventually the 38-low bar, and climbing up bar after bar till you made that long anticipated jump from the attic. It is the next step that for most N.H. jumpers is the quantum leap: the Lebanon 48-K. When I first saw it, I thought it was a 90. It looks so imposing to the eye. Entire jump on a trestle, beautiful steep hill, the bridge over the brook, uphill runout. Impressive in all aspects. It is without doubt the measuring stick for N.H. jumpers. Especially at the NHIAA High School level. How each kid handles the mental process to get off this jump is an interesting, and wildly variable process. Each one brings some different motivation that helps them make this next step, and you can never be sure what that is. I’m sure it’s happened, but I never saw anyone get up there then come back off the bar and walk down. One memorable incident stands out for me though.
Willy Graves would come up to practice at Lebanon from Brattleboro some nights. It was a long trip for the Graves, but Willey was definitely getting better, and this night Jon Farnham thought he was ready for the 48. He sent Willy over to see Jere Linehan who was the coach there. Jere had a little talk with Willy, and he was ready to go. Peter Graves was doing the driving that night, so he came over to see Willy’s first ride. My son Chris was at the 48 practicing along with Hornet Farnham, Chris and Andrew Baker, Marshall Ambrose, and Eric Smith. They all gave Willy a lot of encouragement, and he and Andrew went up the stairs to the low bar. Andrew put on his skis, showed Willy how to get out on the bar, waited for the signal from Jere, and took off. Then Willy slid out. He looked ready, checked his bindings and got the signal from Jere. Nothing happened. Signal again, nothing still. Several calls of encouragement from the other jumpers and his Dad came from below, but Willy was still there. He wasn’t turning back, but he wasn’t going either. I turned to Chris who was standing by the stairs with me and said. “You’re pretty good friends with Willy. Why don’t you go up and see if you can help him a little?” He agreed and climbed the stairs to the bar Willy was on. You could see them talking for a bit, and then Chris sat down and slid out on the bar beside Willy. They talked a bit more, then Chris sort of leaned over and said something else to Willy. Willy stood right up, went into his in-run, and off he went. Rock solid, no problems. Chris slid back off the bar, and headed back down the stairs to get his skis for another jump. I walked over and thanked him for helping out. I asked him, “What did you say to Willy?” “Well, we talked for a bit” he said, “and then I told him; you know, Sam Burke went off this last week, and he stood right up and went.”
Willy had about 5 more rides that night and was loving it. He was off to a great career, eventually becoming a national level Nordic Combined skier. Different things motivate different people. Pushing that right button that night up on the 48 got Willy moving towards a fantastic jumping future.
