Name of Ski
Area: |
Alyeska
Ski Jump, Girdwood Ski Jump, 1969 Jr. National Ski Jump |
Location: |
Girdwood,
at the Alyeska Ski Resort, to the left of Chair #1 just before
you get to the top of Chair #3. |
Type of Area: |
Ski
Jump |
Dates of
Operation: |
1969
to Early 1970's ? (still researching) |
Who Built It?: |
The
Alyeska Ski Jump was constructed for the 1969 Junior
Nationals by members of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Club. |
Base/
Vertical Drop: |
Base:
~300' / Vertical: ~300'
|
Facilities: |
The
Mt. Alyeska Ski Resort was nearby. |
History: |
Paul
Crews Sr. designed the jump.
|
Sources of
Information: |
Rodney
Crews, Jim Burkholder, Paul Wunnicke; Harlan Flint; Leonard
Fancher |
Photos: |
Does
anyone have pictures of jumping at the Girdwood Ski Jump (or current pictures of the vicinity) that they
would like to
contribute to ALSAP ? |
|
[Rodney Crews - 15 November 2004 email excerpt]
Yup, there was a ski jump just to the left as you're riding up Chair
#1, on that big rock your ski almost touch below the top of chair #3...I
believe it was pulled out, no-later-than- the early 90's (It was there in
'66 when I arrived). It seems like it was 70 meters or less. Chris Von
Imhoff (Seibu GM) could probably dig up some details on it.
[Paul Wunnicke - 03 February 2005 email excerpt]
I remember the Girdwood jump being up above the top of where chair 3 is
now, at Alyeska. It seems like the landing area was already filling in w/
alders and small hemlocks. this would have been around 1972-75 -maybe
later.
[Harlan Flint - 04 October 2006 email]
I came across this site completely by accident (I live in Sweden) and
enjoyed reading some of the comments about the old ski areas, a few of
which I vaguely remember. I thought I'd pass along a story about the
Alyeska Ski Jump.
Between 1970 and 1974, when my family lived in Anchorage and had a cabin
at Alyeska, I was fascinated with - and scared of - the ski jump. In my
(young) eyes, the jump itself was a rickety wooden thing that looked old
and treacherous, like it would give you more air than you wanted or slap
you on the landing if you didn't get your timing right. Every once in
awhile you'd see someone up there looking around or very occasionally
thinking about jumping.
Only once do I remember anything remotely organized going on at the
jump. This would have been in '73 or '74, I believe. Along with a few
other people, a guy my age named Garrett Walker (sp?), who was an
excellent alpine racer, was standing some way up the run-in. There
seemed to be a lot of talking and motioning - how to push off the lip,
how to position himself. He was wearing alpine skis and boots, and I
remember that the top boot buckles were either undone, presumably so he
could try to lean out over his skis to get some float and stability.
Finally, he turned down the hill, gained some speed and hit the jump.
It wasn't a long jump or pretty, but long enough and he made it. Most
impressive of all was that he even tried.
Best regards,
Harlan Flint
[Leonard Fancher - 14 January 2009 email]
I lived in Girdwood in 87' and 88'. When
enough snow was there ,the out run of the ski jump was open to skiing.
You would approach it from the cut off on the Racing Trail,then turn
left just before the top of Chair Three.It was steep and filled with
small evergreen trees. When there was enough snow,you would be able to
pick you way through the small trees. It was more a series of small
drops than turns! Not a bad run really. It was short but pretty
challenging. A couple of years ago I was riding Chair One and looked
down onto the run. It was over grown. Those small pines are now mature
trees!
Leonard Fancher |