Skiers PJ Moran and Peter Maxwell (background) wax their jumping skis for extra speed going off the jump. (Ben Coulter/Montana Kaimin)

Gelande attracts competitors and spectators

by Justin Franz | March 3, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

ONCE ROLF Wilson thrust his body forward, there was no turning back. His skis jabbed back and forth, back and forth, like pistons on a locomotive, as he gained speed. Around the turn, he began to straighten up, his legs becoming still as he hit the weathered, wooden table.

Quickly — in the blink of an eye, really — he began to lean forward before he reached the end of the table. Gravity was taking over.

With a quick vocal screech, he was airborne, stiff as he flew past a small crowd of judges and onlookers. Already 10 feet or so off the ground, his height increased as the ground sloped away.

He arched through the air, and as the ground began to near, he prepared to land. Suddenly, his skis kissed the snow and he was on the ground again. His free fall was over.

He slowed down and onlookers cheered, knowing that Wilson had done something special: He had just jumped 205 feet, tying the record made just a few years ago by his younger brother, Erik. The long jump would give the elder Wilson first prize in last weekend’s Snowbowl Cup Gelande Championship.

But not all was lost for Erik, because he ended up taking third place during the two-day event that brought six amateur and 17 professional skiers from across the west to compete in the 37-year-old Missoula tradition.

Unlike the ski jumping seen during the Olympic Winter games (where skiers jump using bindings that free the heels and without ski poles), those in the Gelande jump use regular alpine gear.

The Snowbowl event is one of three annual Gelande events in the United States, but it is unique in that it has one of the only ski jumps left in the country with an approach and landing zone that is not manmade. It is also the only competition to feature a turn in the run above the jump.

While skiers soared through the air, spectators enjoyed the sights on an uncommonly warm day that felt more like April than the last day of February.

“It looks scary, doesn’t it?” said Curt Spurzem to his young son, Scott, as they stood behind an orange fence at the base of the hill.

Both had been skiing Snowbowl for the day, but were taking a break to watch the jumpers as they started the final rounds Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, up the slope near the old wooden jump, Paul “Baddog” Badgley was enjoying the sunlight as he and four other former ski jumpers judged each contender for style and form, based on a rating of one through 10.

And while judging ski competitions isn’t their usual job, Badgley and friends certainly did not look like they minded working a Sunday.

“How many places do you get to see jumpers fly?” Badgley said

Like the other four judges on hand Sunday, Badgley started jumping in the early 1980s. In 1987, he took second place in the U.S. Nationals.

He started his jumping career at Snowbowl, thanks to his college roommate at the University of Montana.

“Once I did that first jump, I couldn’t stop,” Badgley said.

It was the same story for Lloyd Thorsrud, who won the National Cup five times between 1984 and 1989 and remained an avid jumper until 2004 when he finally decided to retire.

“I was just not mentally and physically prepared to jump (anymore),” Thorsrud said, adding that people need to be confident in their ability, something he said wasn’t lacking among the competitors at Sunday’s finals.

“These guys will jump as long as they feel confident,” Thorsrud said.

Jesse Goldsmith from Bozeman, who has taken part in the event for the past three years, has been skiing almost all his life.

“It’s a blast. It’s that perfect wave of skiing. It’s a great jump,” Goldsmith said. “It’s almost as good as powder … almost.”

It’s a jump made possible mainly due to the work of its conqueror, Wilson, who has organized the event — often referred to as “the Montana Winter Olympics” — for the past three years.

Wilson said it was a great opportunity for local skiers to get together, and he gives thanks for their help and to the community of Missoula.
And skiing isn’t the only draw, Badgley said.

“We have a great bar at the bottom (of the slope),” Badgley said, which kept thirsty spectators far from dehydration well into the night.

One may wonder if winning amateur jumper Kyle Taylor hit up the bar before giving the crowd the grand finale of the 2010 Gelande Championship. Wearing only ski boots and goggles, Taylor continued a Gelande tradition of skiing down the slope completely nude in what had to be a freezing finish to a successful weekend.

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