International Miyasama Jumping Competition

Bre, Anton and I went to the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium today for the International Miyasama Jumping Competition.  Before we even got in the stadium we had a bit of good luck.  Another spectator gave us three tickets to get in to see the jumping competition.

The ski jump competition was pretty amazing.  These guys really fly off the jump.  They sound like a rush of wind when they go past.  When they land their skis hit the ground with a loud slap sound.  We started out at the bottom of the stadium and slowly worked our way up the side of the jump to get closer to the action.

The above photo is almost head on from the very bottom of the viewing area.  Note all the snow in the air between the camera and the jumper.  It was pretty snowy.

This guy was sitting down almost on his skis at the run-out of the jump.  The run-out area slopes back uphill slightly to help the skiers lose the speed from their jump.  I saw a few jumpers who got stranded in the middle of the run-out area.  I think this guy was sitting down to go faster through the run-out area.

They have very cool suits to help them catch more air.

This photo gives some sense of how steep the landing area is.  According to Wikipedia the landing area is 37 degrees, pretty steep!  By comparison the double black diamond run I went down at Mt. Teine was 35 degrees at it's steepest point and I never tried going straight down it.

This guy almost crashed on landing.  Bre claims she heard him shout, but all I could hear was the click of the shutter from the professional photographer standing next to me.

This is the same guy on the same landing where he almost crashed.  I think at this point he had given up on style points.  Behind him you can see the distance marks (in meters).

This guy had amazing form (to my inexperienced eye).  He was really leaning forward.

Here you can see the same skier as above in his landing.  Note that he lands on the back end of his ski and the ski bows as it slaps down on the ground.  The red line in front of him is the K-point at 120 meters, so his jump was around 110-115 meters.  They use bamboo leaves in the snow to mark distance on the course.

This was the very last jump of the competition.  He was from Germany and he did well enough to win third place.

It was a fun morning of watching crazy people jumping.

That is all for now,

-Kyle and Bre