Our Case for Support

Salisbury Winter Sports Association
PO Box196
Salisbury, CT 06068

The mission of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association is to acquaint our nearby communities, especially the children, with Nordic ski-jumping and cross-country and Alpine skiing, and to teach the skills necessary for their enjoyment and lifelong pursuit. As part of its mission, SWSA hosts and perpetuates the annual ski-jumping competition on Satre Hill to sustain ski jumping in Salisbury and the Eastern United States.

The Case for a New Jump

The History of SWSA

Ever since a winter afternoon in 1925 when a Norwegian immigrant skied off the edge of a barn roof to show the locals the wonder of his sport, ski jumping has held an honored place in Salisbury’s history and in its heart. In its long tenure, ski jumping has helped shape many young lives and has brought both national and international recognition to some of Salisbury’s best athletes. The Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA) and its Satre Hill are well respected throughout the ski jumping world. Its annual competition is a required jump for Junior Olympic hopefuls; its directors who manage the myriad technical issues of putting on a jump have been called “the equal of any jump maintenance crew in the nation” by Lake Placid officials, and the size of our hill provides a necessary transition for learning jumpers to move from small practice hills to the large hills of Lake Placid.

But it has never been SWSA alone carrying on this good work. There has long been a partnership between organization and town. It is through the volunteerism and financial support of Salisbury’s residents and businesses that ski jumping has both thrived and survived in Salisbury for over eight decades. And now, SWSA has been granted an extraordinary opportunity and a challenge. And more than ever before, that strong partnership will be necessary to guide Salisbury ski jumping into the future.

The Opportunity and the Challenge

The United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) has awarded SWSA and Salisbury the 2011 Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Junior Olympics. This event is the premiere ski jumping and Nordic combined competition for jumpers 17 years old and younger in the United States. The four day event attracts the best junior jumpers from all over the United States. Not since the 1950’s has SWSA hosted a national ski jumping event. Salisbury’s Satre Hill would be elevated from a small rural jumping hill which hosts a once-a-year competition to a world class facility which hosts the National Junior Olympics every four years.

But this exciting news comes with a condition. In order to host the Junior Olympic competition, SWSA must first replace its old wooden tower and in run with a steel structure that conforms to current jumping standards. In other words, SWSA’s ski jump is obsolete. Directors have known for several years that they must one day replace its sound but aging structure with one that conformed to other jumps. But the offer from USSA makes that need immediate.

The Impact on the Local Community

The impact on the local economy would be significant. Consider that each February, SWSA’s annual jump weekend brings approximately 1400-2000 visitors into Salisbury for the three-day event. The Junior Olympics, which would be held two weeks later, would deliver 100-200 jumpers, along with coaches, family members, and friends to town for four days of practice and competition. Hundreds of visitors would be staying in local inns, dining in our restaurants, attending movies, and shopping in town. In addition, the event could generate significant spectator crowds for such a premier attraction. Along with the new facilities, SWSA plans to expand its programs.

In 2011, Directors plan to install plastic on the 20 meter hill to make year-round practice possible. Also, they will continue their efforts to expand the jump weekend into a town-wide winter festival. For the past three years, SWSA has promoted its jump weekend as Jumpfest to connote an event larger than the jumps themselves. The ice carving competition (which SWSA co-sponsors) and the crowd it attracts, demonstrate how volunteers can successfully engage ski jump visitors in other town activities. SWSA will encourage business owners and civic groups to develop additional exciting activities for future Jumpfests.

The SWSA Tradition

Ski jumping in Salisbury enjoyed an international cachet from its very beginnings. Although residents did not know it at the time, the Norwegian immigrants who first sparked an interest in ski jumping in Salisbury were among the very best Nordic skiers in the world. Such names as Satre, Hegge and Torrissen would become Olympic medalists and future National Ski Hall of Famers.

But these men were not just great skiers, they were also enthusiastic promoters of their sport, and, perhaps most importantly, they were good teachers. They taught Salisbury families how to cross country ski and ski jump. Some of them, like Roy Sherwood and Larry Stone excelled. Roy competed in the 1956 Olympics and won the World Ski Flying Championships and the National Ski Jumping Championship in 1954. Larry enjoyed an illustrious coaching career at Lake Placid, and before his retirement, he served as Olympic coach for the women’s jumping team. Both men came back to teach new jumpers in Salisbury, perpetuating a tradition of “giving back” that continues today.

Each year, over 200 local and area children benefit from SWSA's programs. Students at Salisbury Central School (SCS) receive equipment and instruction to learn cross country skiing. SWSA gives about $3,000 a year to fund SCS’s downhill skiing program at Catamount, and for the first time, SWSA has awarded scholarship money for students at North Canaan Elementary School to aid their fledgling downhill program. This winter, 26 children signed up for SWSA’s two-day ski jumping clinic during Christmas recess and 15 continued to train on weekends for the rest of the season.

Increasingly, non-profit organizations must collaborate and merge their talents to achieve the best possible environment for their communities. Included in these numerous efforts, SWSA has formed working relationships with The Lakeville Hose Co. and the Jane Lloyd Fund, and has hosted a Halloween ride on their property for Salisbury Central School 8th graders to raise money for their class trip. In 2009 SWSA began working with NASCAR Dave Macmillan’s Sunday in the Country Food Drive. SWSA will continue to seek new relationships with local non-profits that benefit the people of our town and beyond.

Conclusion

Timing is everything, it is said, and our long-time need of a new tower combined with the exceptional offer we have been given by USSA, makes for perfect timing to build a new jumping facility. But to achieve our goal, we will very much need the partnership that SWSA enjoys with the Town of Salisbury and its citizens.

Table of Financial Needs

• To demolish the existing tower, install new footings, construct
  a steel tower and in run with wood plank decking and install
  new stairway. Cost estimate: $500,000.
• To demolish and build the judges’ tower. Cost estimate: $100,000
• To modify the landing hill and other earth moving work
  Cost estimate: $100,000

• Total estimate: $700,000

“This new tower will be a huge factor in reviving interest in Ski Jumping in the East, not only to keep Salisbury's great Nordic tradition alive but to give the East a desperately needed hill in the critical size range on which youngsters really learn how to fly. Salisbury can then attract events like the Junior Olympics, of a National caliber.”

Larry Stone, Salisbury Jumper, and Lake Placid and Olympic Coach.