Ski jumpers took to the air on Sunday (June 24) in the Sea to Sky corridor during a demonstration event put on by the Callaghan Valley Nordic Centre.
Jumpers and volunteers from Squamish travelled to Seventh Heaven in Whistler to learn the ins and outs of the Olympic sport and give it a try themselves.
"This is the first of what we hope to be a number of demonstration events," said John Heilig, sports director for Nordic combined and ski jumping for VANOC.
"We had built a 10 metre jump to use to teach the rules of the sport, how it is judged. I just wanted it to be an initiation into the sport," said Heilig.
About 20 skiers took part in the event including members of the Callaghan Valley Local Organizing Committee (CALOC).
"We had a great time, the kids that came were jumping like wildfire," said CALOC director Nancy Hamilton.
"When I first looked at it it was kind of intimidating, but when you do it it's actually a fairly soft landing. You don't actually travel that high through the air and the landing slopes down so you just flow with it. I can see how it would be a great sport for kids."
Due to the conditions at Seventh Heaven jumpers used downhill skis instead of telemark of Nordic skis, which are usually used for the sport. According to Heilig the jump was classified at 10 metres because that was approximately how far skiers travelled off of it. The distances achieved on Sunday will pale in comparison to how far skiers will travel off the main jumps in the Callaghan Valley once their completed.
"Off the Large Hill, guys are going somewhere around 140 metres now," said Heilig. "That's gone way up. Back at the Calgary Olympics they were going about 113 metres."
For those who wish to learn more about ski jumping Heilig plans to have at least two more demonstrations this fall prior to the centre's scheduled opening in December.
