Local kids got their chance recently to get a feel for what it’s like to soar through the air.
It might have only been for a split second or so into some padding, but it was flying nonetheless.
Whistler Sports Legacies brought their new ski jump training tool to the Squamish Adventure Centre to give youngsters from about age 8 to 14 the opportunity to get a feel for the sport.
“We’re getting kids excited to jump,” said Tim Hope, managing director for the Whistler Olympic Park. “It’s really safe. It’s an introductory program for kids.”
Whistler Sports Legacies is a not-for-profit organization that operates the Whistler Olympic Park, Whistler Sliding Centre and the Whistler Athletes’ Centre, set up to give people opportunities for winter recreation.
The training tool offers a dry-land opportunity for kids to find out what the sport is like.
“We want to get the word out about ski jumping,” said jumping coach John Heilig.
He says the tool uses rollers as a means of propelling jumpers along the track, giving them the sensation of a launch. The main difference, of course, is that they are flying only a short distance before landing in some soft padding, as opposed to soaring many metres through the air.
Heilig describes the equipment as a typical tool to learn jumping, and it offers anyone, especially kids, the chance to get used to the sport before ever setting their skis down on an actual jump, something that could seem a bit daunting for anyone.
The tool helps beginners work on their take-offs, which Heilig says is crucial to the sport.
“In ski jumping, the takeoff’s everything,” he said. “Landing, that’s easy. You do that anyway.”
Besides offering an easy and safe way for kids to learn, one of the obvious advantages of the tool is that it allows practising jumps even when there is no snow on the ground.
Another benefit is it provides for more intensive training, as Heilig says in a typical day a young skier might get 10 to 15 jumps, whereas with this trainer, they can do 50 or 100 easily.
Whistler Sports Legacies announced on Oct. 22 that it is offering entry-level programming for boys and girls up to age 14 to learn ski jumping once the snow arrives.
They have even constructed new beginner-friendly 20- and 40-metre hills next to the big Olympic jumps to teach kids.
In the meantime, a jumping tool is to be part of the new Squamish Legacy Park being developed by Sea to Sky Nordics in the aftermath of the 2010 Olympics.
There are plans to set it up next month so that more can try out the sport, just one of several winter sports that will be part of the park.
For more information, see seatoskynordics.ca/legacy-park.
