Historical Information About Ski Jumping in America
** Here’s a website which catalogs ski jumps around the world, and it’s got a huge listing of American jumps, past
and present ... www.skisprungschanzen.com. That’s German for “ski jumping hills.” It’s in both German and
English. The link will bring up the homepage in English, but if you navigate to a page that’s in German, look for a little
British flag logo in the upper part of the left (blue) column to switch to English. Click on Ski Jumps, choose United
States, and you’ll find a lengthy list. Some material may be outdated, but you can contact the webmaster if you have
more complete or current info. Prepare to spend some time ...
Here’s an example of what you can find there ... a listing for a ski jump in Berkeley, California. There was a description
of two events held there in the 1930s, with a link to a YouTube VIDEO compiled from black & white movies shot on
site. There’s a sharp right turn at the end of the outrun, and one of the jumpers has to dodge a dog! As Master Card
would say, “Priceless!”
** The International Skiing History Association publishes a terrific comprehensive quarterly magazine called Skiing
Heritage. Their website is www.skiinghistory.org. Its subject matter covers all skiing disciplines, and of course it’s
international in scope. They have published articles about American ski jumping and Nordic combined, and it’s well
worth the time to become familiar with their website. Back issues of the magazine are online.
** See a historical insert from the Red Wing Republican-Eagle Feb 7, 2007. PDF, 24 pages
This was printed at the time of the first American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame induction, and contains a lot of information
on the early days of ski jumping in the USA.
** Learn about the Morgedal Valle in Norway, where ski jumping began ... Morgedal.com
Find more links on our “Museums, etc.” page ... along with info in collections, books, etc.
Use Google Search to find more info about ski jumping!
Looking Back ... All The Way To 1887
Thank you for your interest in the history of American ski jumping!
We hope you’ll find this site interesting and informative. Find out
how this organization began and learn about its mission. Check for
announcements and upcoming events. Visit our online Hall of Fame, and
find links to other ski jumping history resources. You’ll find all of these
things via link buttons at the top of each page. We’ll also invite you to
become a member of Friends of American Ski Jumping!
Hover mouse on each thumbnail above to see larger image at left.
Red Wing MN, late 1880s. Second from left is
Mikkel Hemmestvedt, who set the first US
distance record of 37 feet at Red Wing in 1887.
G
Bold active links
Italics = obsolete links,
looking for equivalents
Some of the links above are
inactive; they’re all from You
Tube, and the source files
may no longer be out there.
We’re trying to find same or
similar videos to replace the
ones that are not working.
Ishpeming MI, probably early 1900s ... this was
one of the early ski jumping hotbeds, and is now
home to the National Ski Hall of Fame.
Art Tokle and Bob Immens, probably early
1940s. Art was US National Champion in 1951
and 1953, and an Olympian in 1952 and 1960.
Art Tokle and Bob Immens, Lake Placid, 1980.
Bob was a walking encyclopedia of ski jumping
history ... some of his photos are displayed
elsewhere on this site.