Jonathan Thompson learns to ski jump near Salt Lake City,

1. PUSHING THE LIMITS EDITED BY JONATHAN THOMPSON & JOE MACKIE
a
Jonathan flies off a
Once in Nordic ski jump in
Utah Olympic Park
a lifetime
Learn to
ski jump
WHAT
Going from novice
to 40m flyer at the
Utah Olympic Park,
venue for the 2002
Salt Lake Games.
WHEN
Winter months
(December-March)
are obviously
best but you can
experience Nordic
jumping all year
round on watered-
down astro turf.
WHY
Overtake and
outjump fear. Fly
like a bird and
hopefully land
like one, too
HOW
Crystal Ski
(crystalski.co.uk)
offers a week in Park
City, Utah in the
Yarrow Resort Hotel
from £576 per head
based on four
sharing, including
flights from Gatwick
to Salt Lake City,
transfers and
breakfast. For more
information on
skiing in Utah, visit
utah.travel or call
WHERE
08456 020 574 for
a free destination
guide. The Park City
EAGLES DARE
Nordic Ski Club
(nsfparkcity.org)
operates a variety of
jumping courses
starting at £25 a On the 20th anniversary of “Eddie” Edwards’
session. For more airborne exploits, MH’s Jonathan Thompson takes
info on the park, his own leap of faith at Olympic ski jump school
visit olyparks.com.
Photography Mark Chilvers
menshealth.co.uk/down-time DECEMBER 2008 MEN’S HEALTH 0O0

2. ADVENTURE
Jon surveys his ultimate
challenge – the K40. While
instructor Matt waits below
The park has training
jumps ranging
from 2-40m
F
ear is an overused word. We’re all
guilty of applying it to moments where,
if we’re honest, we’re just vaguely
nervous or somewhat apprehensive. But at this
moment – high above a snow-coated Olympic
Park, staring down the unforgiving, icy barrel
of a 40m (131ft) ski jump – it doesn’t begin to
describe how I feel. This isn’t just fear – this is Jon assumes the “inrun”
unadulterated, wet-your-pants terror. position: legs bent, back
parallel to the slope
Clutching the rails, I’m transported back to
when, as a nine-year-old boy, I’d climbed the
highest diving board in a bid to impress a new Matt Terwillegar,
gang of friends. Driven on by false bravado, one Olympic coach
and former skier
glance from the edge had persuaded me to
shuffle shamefacedly to the ladder, descending
to jeers of derision. Now, 20 years on, I was
feeling exactly the same. Could I seriously
do this? Would anyone laugh at me and make
A SINGLE MOVEMENT OVER
chicken noises if I simply unclipped my skis and
THE EDGE IS ALL THAT
SEPARATES ME FROM
walked down the hill? My instructor had warned
me about thoughts like this – “the paralysis of
SERIOUS PERSONAL KUDOS
analysis”, he called it. Right now, looking at his
beetle-like form waving at me from the distant
landing area, paralysis seemed a genuine worry.
THE BEST SNOW ON EARTH
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED The unique “Lake effect” in the mountains around America’s
Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards has a lot to answer Great Salt Lake gifts Utah’s ski resorts the fluffiest powder on earth
for. It was his fearless, high-profile assault to experience some Olympic-standard ski Despite the fact that he bears a more-than the snow and arms tucked in, palms facing out.
on the 1988 Winter Olympics, as Britain’s jumping for myself, I jumped (sorry!) at the passing resemblance to England’s error-prone “You need to be aggressive – right over your
solitary ski-jumper, that first drew my Sundance chance. goalkeeper, David James, it’s apparent from skis to keep your weight in the right position,”
attention to what was to become one of The venue, Utah’s state-of-the-art Olympic the off that I’m in extremely safe hands. says Matt, while we practise it, finishing with an
Deer Valley
my great passions: skiing. Park, was originally built to stage the 2002 “Don’t worry about a thing,” says Matt. “Once explosive spring into the air, over and over.
UTAH LAKE
At pretty much the time I was beating Salt Lake Games, but is now an enormous we’re done, we won’t be able to keep you off the This laborious rehearsal is known as
y
Cit
my red-faced retreat down that diving PARK CITY adrenaline playground, offering everything from K20 – honestly, jumping can get addictive.” per forming “imitations”, and forms part of
ke
ladder, The Eagle – with his trademark La bobsleigh rides to Nordic ski jumping. Which Our first lesson takes place indoors, where a jumper’s daily training, even at the highest
alt
Snowbird
glasses and skew-whiff chin – was S was why I’d flown 12 hours to be here. we stand in our socks and Matt demonstrates level. “It’s like a golf swing,” says Matt. “Once
Salt lake city
soaring off jumps in Calgary, breaking I’d signed up for three lessons – with the the all-important body position. “Believe it or you slow it down, it’s very simple... but also
the British record and competing at the initial aim of jumping (and preferably landing) not, your body doesn’t actually want to lean very easy to get wrong.” With far more serious
UTAH OLYMPIC PARK
apex of an event few even gave him a the “K20”. Each jump is measured from its forwards and throw itself off a mountain, so repercussions in terms of handicapping.
hope of qualifying for. Okay, so he came take-off to landing area, where the hill starts you need to teach it how to per form first,”
last, but his bold disregard of odds and AIRPORT to flatten out. The K20 – at 20m (66ft) – may explains Matt. “The secret is muscle memory LEARNING TO FLY
his own skeletal integrity had us glued to have been dwar fed by Eddie the Eagle’s record – you have to drill your body into per forming the The following morning I’m kitted out in my jump
our TVs – and ultimately ignited my own of 71m (232ft), but it is still one of the most right movement without thinking about it.” suit – a ridiculously tight, shiny blue all-in-one
lifelong zest for winter sports. So when, terrifying things I have ever seen. My instructor The key shape, I learn , is the “inrun” that leaves nothing to the imagination (including
as a keen intermediate skier two is Matt Terwillegar – a former member of the position, which ski jumpers adopt before take- the number of American-sized meals I’ve been
decades later, I was offered the chance US ski team and long-serving Olympic coach. off. Knees are bent low, with the back parallel to devouring while skiing the picturesque ᮣ
0O0 MEN’S HEALTH DECEMBER 2008 menshealth.co.uk/down-time menshealth.co.uk/down-time DECEMBER 2008 MEN’S HEALTH 0O0

3. ADVENTURE
ᮤ neighbouring resorts of Park City and Deer
Valley). This tasty little number is teamed
with a lightweight helmet and special jumping
shoes, which look like a cross between boxing
trainers and bananas.
But it’s the skis I’m most surprised by
– they’re positively gargantuan. At 2.5m (8ft)
they’re a whopping 50% longer than my normal
size. Predictably, I struggle to walk in them, let
alone ski, and spend a good 20 minutes tottering
round like a little girl in her mother’s heels before
I’m confident enough to get on the lift. With my
spangly outfit, helmet and burger belly, I look like
a low-rent, pudgy Evel Knievel impersonator.
Less like an eagle – more an enormous blue tit.
Nevertheless I’m ready. It’s only about 2m
(6.5ft), but with the cumbersome, borderline
uncontrollable planks strapped to my feet, it’s
plenty scary enough. “Don’t worry, you can’t
get hurt in the air,” grins Matt. True, but this
still has all the ingredients for a hospital visit:
speed, flight and rock-hard snow. I surprise
myself when I’m in the air for less than
a second, then land comfortably.
Soon, I’ve graduated to the 5m (16ft) jump,
and Matt decides I’m worthy to tackle the K10.
It’s all going suspiciously well. Each new jump
is petrifying at first, but ultimately landable.
Within mintues I’m hooked. Stopping is a major
issue – the skis are perfectly straight with no
edges, so impossible to turn – but I practise my
technique over and over: the aggressive inrun Nordic ski jumpers can
position, the straight legs at take-off and bent fly up to 55mph. Hold on
to that burger belly, Jon
legs on impact. Matt shows me how to improve
my shape in the air by cocking my ankles, and
I even start to attempt an ungainly “V” shape
while airborne, in a bad imitation of the pros.
JUMP TO IT
By the end of my second lesson I’m not only The best five bits of kit for take-off, courtesy of Matt Terwillegar, former US
confident, but physically unblemished. ski team high-flyer and jump coach at the Utah Olympic Park (olyparks.com)
“We’ll get you off the K20 tomorrow,” says HEADS UP
Matt. “Don’t worry! Yes, you get injuries – but 1
FLY BOY 2 £160 Casco SP
£280 Meininger
you get injuries walking across the road.” Fair (casco-helme.de)
Pro (meiniger-
enough, I point out, but I don’t walk across the jumpsuits.de)
This top-of-the-range
road at 50mph in a skin-tight neoprene suit. carbon-fibre brain-
Meininger’s suits are all
guard reduces weight,
custom-made. The
and protects the sides
WINGING IT special material on the
and top of your head.
Day three and I’m hungry to master the monster: outside edges with
It’s aerodynamically
a lower frictional drag
the K20. After a few successful warm-up runs, designed to reduce drag.
will make you faster.
Matt takes the T-Bar lift with me to the next level.
Unclipping my skis, I trudge across to the
starting gallows, apprehensive but charged up.
It looks a long way down. “You’ll be fine,”
reassures Matt. “Run through your imitations,
then switch off your brain and trust your body.”
Taking deep breaths, I imagine an Action BINDING LAUNCH PADS KICK START
3 4 5 £355 AdiSTAR
Man-esque switch in the back of my head, and CONTACT £539 Fischer
Winstar bindings, Eagle Jumping Skis Ski Jump (win-air.net)
lock it into the off position. I know what it feels
£155 (win-air.net) (snowandrock.com) These ski jump boots
like to break bones, and I know there’s a chance are top of the range,
A pressure-sensitive Jump-specific planks
of that sickening throb again in a matter of with kangaroo leather
system releases don’t have edges, so
seconds, but I try to focus solely on folding my according to weight. stopping takes uppers for a lightweight
body up at speed, then exploding off the jump. Plus there’s a special practice. Fischer’s are glove-like fit, and a
Finally, in a preemptive strike against the cord to make the skis super-light and used by moulded sock liner for
sensible part of my brain, I push myself over ᮣ more stable in the air. the world’s top jumpers. stiffness and control.
menshealth.co.uk/down-time DECEMBER 2008 MEN’S HEALTH 0O0

4. ADVENTURE
THE ANATOMY OF A SKI JUMP
Greg Poirier, US Ski Team jumping coach, explains how
to fly like an eagle and avoid those bone-crunching errors
ST
AR
T
IN
RU
N
TAK
E- O
FF
GO LOW
1 Minimize air
resistance and maximize
acceleration on the
“inrun” with a low crouch,
LIP SERVICE
arms back parallel to 2 About 6m (20ft)
the floor, palms up, your
from the edge, raise TERRA FIRMA
upper body relaxed and FLYING HIGH LA 4
head low. Spread your
your hips slightly 3 Cock your ankles N
Keep your upper
while pressing your DI body relaxed and knees
weight for a perfect mix to in the air and form the N
chest against your G slightly bent to absorb
of balance and speed. aerodynamic “V” shape
knees so your legs act the impact of landing.
like a coiled spring – with your skis– try to
Step one foot forward
pull away from the hill
K
jump forward and so you land in the
-P
upwards at the with your head and
O
“telemark” position.
IN
absolute end of the shoulders to get the
Hold until you reach the
T
take-off table. forward lean. Keep
flat ground then turn to
your body straight and
one side to stop.
perpendicular to the
slope, arms pointing
back and down. OU T R
UN
ᮤ the edge and hurtle towards the take off most terrifying mountainside drop I’ve ever seen.
point. With a cross between a yell of terror and A simple movement over the edge is all that
a whoop of delight, I’m off the lip and soaring separates me from serious personal kudos (or
through the air. Then, a few seconds later serious time in traction). It is the most scared I’ve
– incredibly, gratefully – I feel snow under my felt in years, possibly ever. But I won’t let fear win:
skis again. I’ve done it. The blue tit has landed. it’s payback time for the swimming pool.
I want more. Now. The feeling of arcing through Now I’m over the edge and there’s no
the mountain air – even if only for a handful of turning back. Even if I wanted to, there’s nothing
seconds – is one of pure, elemental, power ful I can do – unlike the shorter jumps, the K40
freedom. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever has deep tramlines, which my skis are slicing
ILLUSTRATION SIMPLEILLUSTRATION.CO.UK
done. Each jump is different – the slightest shift down at terrifying speed. I can’t stop or turn: all
in body, ski or wind can make a difference, but I can do is maintain the best possible inrun
that’s part of the attraction. I can’t get enough. position and keep my head clear. “Aggressive,”
Matt skis over as I come to an ungainly stop says Matt’s voice in my head. The knife-
once more. “Well done,” he says. “If you want, I sharpening whine of my skis reaches a crescendo
reckon you could have a look at the K40...” The Park serves as a and then, suddenly, there’s the lip – I push my
So here I am, one tiny bare foot on the high year-round competition legs straight and am terrifyingly, wonder fully,
and Olympic training site
diving board, one big yellow-booted one on the flung out into the blue sky as if fired out of ᮣ
0O0 MEN’S HEALTH DECEMBER 2008 menshealth.co.uk/down-time

5. ADVENTURE
ᮤ a cannon. It feels like a cross between a giant, Don’t cross the skis! But still it isn’t over. There’s time for one more.
icy waterslide and an enormous, snowy Jon’s (near) perfect I know I can do it. Despite the escalating pain in
landing of his last jump
catapult. Form flies out of the window as I’m my lower back, I get a much better shape in the
unceremoniously chucked into the sky – like an air and, keeping my weight right over my skis to
extra in the A-Team after his jeep has exploded. avoid another backside battering, I land it! I’m
Everything seems to switch into slow motion. ecstatic and punch the air before inadvertently
I see the Olympic building, the mountains, the crossing my skis and piling head-first down
car park, the road. Then, with a thud, it all speeds Ski jumpers cover the slope. I have a mouthful of snow and some
up again. For a jubilant split-second I think I’ve distances longer tourists are laughing, but I don’t care. As far as
than a football field
landed it, then a combination of my speed and I’m concerned. I’ve won.
appalling weight distribution send me smashing
THE BOTTOM LINE
EAGLE’S BEST
to the ground, finishing with one leg in the car
park and another at the bottom of the run. My time is up. My bottom is in a world of pain
It hurts. I’ve never been winded before, but Michael Edwards: the world’s most successful Olympic failure (later diagnosed as a hairline coccyx fracture
this is what it must feel like. (I’ve also never after an unbecoming incident with a doctor,
fallen from a first floor window before but this is “Eddie the Eagle” – or Michael Edwards, a 24- some lubricant and a rubber glove), but the
Soared like an eagle,
probably what that feels like, too). year-old, short-sighted plasterer from dropped like a stone nine-year-old boy in Speedos has finally been
Lying there, breathing grateful gulps of Cheltenham – competed at the 1988 Calgary vindicated. I may be battered, but I looked fear
mountain air, I know it’s not over. I can’t let my Winter Olympics as Britain’s only ski jumper. in the eyes and launched myself towards it at
ADDITIONAL IMAGES REX, FULL STOP PHOTOGRAPHY, SKI UTAH
ski-jumping career end like this. It’s probably a Although he finished last, “Eddie” set a new considerable speed. Plus I got to walk away and
mistake – but I’m going to jump the K40 again. British record of 71m and became a global tell the tale (even if it was with a pronounced limp).
My second crash is worse. I get more spring, media phenomenon. Sadly, the fact that such After placing last at the 1988 Winter Olympics,
which makes the landing even more painful. This a rank outsider had outshone the medallists Eddie the Eagle Edwards said it wasn’t about
time I hit the snow on my backside, with so much put a number of noses out of joint. Edwards, finishing on the podium – jumping was reward
force I bounce and land on it again. I steam down no stranger to misaligned facial features, enough. After visiting Utah Olympic Park, I too
the hill at such velocity that my left ski is wrenched became the subject of the IOC’s “Eddie finished on the bottom. But it was worth it for
off and races ahead, flying off the landing area, the Eagle” rule, which required Olympic that incredible feeling of soaring off a mountain.
across the car park and into a café wall. I come hopefuls to place in the top 30%. Despite his I didn’t need a medal either – just some
to rest, unable to speak or move, as a lady attempts, the rule meant Eddie the Eagle Collapsing in a heap industrial strength painkillers for the flight
comes trudging up the hill with my ski. “Does never flew at the Olympics again. having mastered the home and a slightly effeminate pink cushion
K40. Bottoms up!
this belong to you?” All I can muster is a nod. to sit on at work for the next three weeks. I MH
PHOTOGRAPHY MARK CHILVERS
I
MH
0O0 MEN’S HEALTH DECEMBER 2008 menshealth.co.uk/down-time