Skiers to jump for hefty purse of $8,000

by Tori Norskog | February 23, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

If you haven’t received your fill of spectacular feats of athleticism from the Olympics, Snowbowl will be the place for you this weekend.

The annual Snowbowl Cup Gelande Championship will take place Saturday and Sunday. It will feature amateur and professional skiers from across the nation, jumping distances of up to 200 feet to compete for an $8,000 cash prize.

Skiers have been preparing for this event all season. If you have been up to Snowbowl recently, you have likely seen skiers testing out the narrow jump that goes between two cliffs near the Grizzly chairlift.

“I think we saw them practicing last weekend,” said skier Matt Eickholt. “They go off this big jump and lean way over their skis. I was like, ‘Holy shit, that was crazy.’”

Rolf Wilson of Bozeman has won the event five times and now he is one of its coordinators. This will be his 14th year competing, and he said there is more to the event than just who jumps the farthest; there are also style points.

A panel of five judges will rate each skier based on different style aspects of their jump — how they jump, their position in the air and how they land.

For nearly 20 years, at least one of the Wilson brothers — Rolf, Eric or Brent — has participated in the competition. The oldest brother, Brent, won in ’96 and again in ’98. Since then, one of the brothers has won the event every year. Brent, who won four times, will be judging this year instead of competing.

The youngest brother and two-time winner, Eric, won last year with a 203-foot jump. He said his longest jump ever was 360 feet, which is the distance of a football field.

“(Eric) has become one of the great Gelande jumpers of our time,” Rolf said.

Eric said this year, he is hoping for the best, but the competition will be stiff. He said some of the skiers planning to compete include a member for the U.S. Nordic Team and a member from the Alpine Developmental Squad for the U.S. ski team.

“You have to be a good skier to do this sport,” Eric said, “and you have to be a little crazy too. We’re all adrenaline junkies.”

The Betterside rugby team will be marking where the skiers land. The team has worked the event for the last five years as a fundraiser, but vice president Brenda Taulbee said they do it mostly for enjoyment.

“It’s a lot of fun to watch, and there’s always a big party with music and food,” Taulbee said.

Most of the skiers in this competition will be from Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado or Montana. But in some years, there have been a few skiers from the East.

Rolf said the requirements for competing are a background in ski jumping and downhill racing, a helmet and health insurance.

Registration opens Feb. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Snowbowl Lodge. Entry fees are $125 for professionals and $75 for amateurs. The price for non-skier admittance is $3.

Practice runs begin Friday afternoon. On Feb. 27, seeding for the amateur and professional competitions will take place. Finals will be held the following day. It is traditional for the winner of the amateur division to take a victory jump in the nude.

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