See Remarkable Ski Jumpers Soaring In Eau Claire

See Remarkable Ski Jumpers Soaring In Eau Claire

 

Watch ski jumpers whiz by at 60 mph before landing 300-foot jumps from only a few feet away. Sure, you can watch Olympic ski jumping on TV, but you won’t feel the rush of adrenaline in front of your face or hear the buzz of skiers fly by unless you’re there in person.  

At the Silver Mine Invitational in the small town of Union, Wisconsin, you can have this rare experience. Athletes from around the world visit Eau Claire to compete in ski jumping and nordic combined, a combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping.  

You don’t need to be an expert or even an athlete, for that matter, to enjoy this event. Hang out next to the landing area around several bonfires while chatting and eating good food, along with hot or cold beverages from the concession stand. If you choose, watch from inside the huge warming tent with a beer garden too.  

See why people travel to this small town for big jumps.

 

 

About The Silver Mine Ski Jump

The top of the Silver Mine ski jump measures 68.5 meters, or 224.74 feet high, and is classified as a 90-meter ski jumping venue. The Central United States only has two ski jumps this size, Silver Mine ski jump and Suicide Hill ski jump in Ishpeming, Michigan. The longest jump at Silver Mine was in 2012 by Ben Loomis with a jump of 99.5 meters, or 327 feet.

 

Events At The Annual Silver Mine Invitational

• Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined World Junior National Qualifying Series
• US Cup Series
• Silver Mine Invitational 5-Hills Tour Event
• Long Standing Jump  

 

Activities At The Annual Silver Mine Invitational

• Opening ceremonies
• Cross country open ski for the public
• Watch training
• Skijoring demonstrations
• Bonfires
• Beer garden
• Warming Tent
• Concessions
• Live DJ

Eau Claire Ski Jumping History

 

Scandinavian immigrants, notably Norwegian, brought their love for ski jumping to Eau Claire in the late 1800s. In 1886, the first ski club named The Dovre Ski Club was formed. Two years later, in 1888, they held their first ski jumping tournament. Their tournament was recognized as the third official tournament in U.S. history. In fact, because of its heavy Scandinavian influence, the midwest is where ski jumping started in America.

 

Where Athletes Travel From

Competitors from United States ski clubs travel from places such as Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Park City, Utah; Lake Placid, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; Westby, Wisconsin; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; and Anchorage, Alaska, 

In a normal year, without a pandemic, athletes come to Eau Claire to compete from all over the world. Some of these countries include Finland, Austria, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Canada, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.

 

2022 Silver Mine Invitational Participating Athletes

Tami Jastrow gave us the rundown of this year’s participating athletes.

 

“We will have Nick Mattoon – one of the Flying Eagles Ski Club’s newest Hall of Fame Members jumping, along with Logan & Stewart Gundry, Carter & Landon Lee, and Tony Benzie. Tony has been adopted by our club – he’s from Iron Mountain, Michigan.

We will have about 15-25 athletes from our Central Division – the 13 clubs are in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois & Wisconsin. Another 4 athletes from Steamboat Springs, CO – the Rocky Mountain Division. We will have 4 from the Eastern Division – most are based out of the New York Ski Education Foundation in Lake Placid, NY. I believe we will have 6-7 from the Park City Ski & Snowboard club out of the Intermountain Division. Due to covid issues, we will not have any European skiers this year.”

 

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A Few Interesting People From The Flying Eagles Ski Club

 

This is a very special thing. We’ve had 7 different Olympians since 1932

Dan Mattoon

 

The Flying Eagles Ski Club head coach, Nick Mattoon, is one of the club’s, and U.S. Ski Team’s, most accomplished jumpers. He began as a toddler at nearby Mt. Washington Nordic Ski Complex, achieved a place in the U.S. Ski Team, and earned a position as an alternate in the 2018 U.S. Olympic team. In addition, he won consecutive U.S. Cup Championships in 2014-2105. On top of that, Nick’s longest jump was 140 meters or 459 feet. Some of Nick’s international competitions allowed him to travel to countries such as the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. Nick became a member of the Flying Eagles Ski Club Hall of Fame in 2022.

 

Dan Mattoon, Nick’s dad, is a Flying Eagles Hall of Famer, Silver Mine Invitational tournament director, media director, and has been on the Board of Directors of USA Ski Jumping. Dan served as style judge for all ski jumping events in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Furthermore, he considers being an Olympic judge a feather in his cap since very few Americans get this opportunity. Dan has previous experience as a judge with the Austrian side and will be working with German teams this year. Dan said, “This is a very special thing. We’ve had 7 different Olympians since 1932.”

 

Every organization has someone that holds it all together. Tami Jastrow is the glue for The Flying Eagles Ski Club. Any questions usually get pointed in her direction and it seems like she does it all. Tami worked at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics on the hill crew.

 

PAUL JASTROW also wears many hats like Chief of Competition and Chairman, US Officials Subcommittee. Paul explains what his life is like as a volunteer and gives a humorous take on his first days as a volunteer.

 

Tami also mentioned, “Zach Jastrow is a former jumper and our Chief of Hill, as well as one of the United States Ski & Snowboard officials for the tournament.”

 

2022 Beijing Olympian and World Cup jumper Andrew Urlaub from The Flying Eagles Ski Club describes taking off from a jump as “Feels like someone tied a string on your lower back and is pulling you up and lifting you.”

 

Ben Loomis qualified for the 2022 Beijing Olympics again for the Nordic Combined.  

 

Adam Loomis, originally from Eau Claire, now coaches at Nordic Skiing Association Of Anchorage, Alaska. At 20 years old Adam became a member of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team. Adam trained in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with the Junior National Team and was later named a coach in Anchorage.

 

Of course, none of the club’s success would have been possible without its volunteers. Fifteen to twenty key volunteers work year-round while it takes 150 more just for the tournament.

Final Thoughts

 

For over 130 years athletes have been ski jumping in Eau Claire. We love how Scandinavian immigrants brought their passion for ski jumping with them. You can watch from the bottom at the landing area, or make your way up the hill to various viewing areas, including where they land. Of course, you can’t go wrong with food and drinks, hot or cold, from the concession stands while standing around one of the bonfires. Overall, it’s a fun atmosphere where you can experience a rare event up close!

 

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Feels like someone tied a string on your lower back and is pulling you up and lifting you

Andrew Urlaub