Print

Mail

wiki links

Tree jumpers aim high in Norway as competition nears

Unlike most ski jumpers, entrants in a Norwegian competition this weekend will lose points for any smooth and graceful landings on the snow.

These jumpers will be aiming for the trees. And the higher they land, the better their scores may be.

The unofficial Norwegian Tree-Ski-Jumping Championships are being organized for the second time in southern Norway's mountains by a group of mountaineering enthusiasts, who are hoping that roads closed by snow don't stop them.

"It isn't really all that dangerous," Oeystein Lia, one of the organizers, said Friday. "It usually goes pretty well."

Lia said 11 people had signed up for Saturday's competition in the Hallingskarvet wilderness area, about 200km, west of Oslo.

He said he was out driving in search of a good spot that could be reached by car, since some of the roads are closed.

Another of the organizers, Vidar Eggimann, said not even that would stop them: "We have skis. We can walk. The contest is on."

The idea is to take flight from a mound of snow, fly through the air and land in a tree. To qualify as a completed jump, the skier has to hang onto the tree without falling to the ground.

"You really have to dare to give it your all in the jump, so you end up near the top of the tree," said Lia. "If you don't, you can slam right into the trunk."

The higher parts of the trees are thinner, and bend under the weight of the skiers, while, according to tips published by the group, there are three possible reasons ``the tree felt like hitting a lamppost.''

"A) The tree is too big. B) You hit it too far down the trunk because you didn't jump hard enough or C) You're a wimp," the tree-jumpers' troubleshooting guide explained.

Qualifying demands were not especially stringent.

"Even relatively faint-hearted people, it seems, can complete a tree ski jump as long as they have skis on,'' said the group's Web site. "The higher up the tree, the softer the landing."

The tree-jumps are inspired by old Norwegian traditions with a new twist.

In the 1800s, skiers would race down mountainsides, usually arcing around natural obstacles like trees. The toughest skiers, though, would jump over the branches of some trees.

On the Net:
http://home.no.net/vvvvidar/skitrehopping/
This story has been viewed 2711 times.