Posts

Showing posts from May, 2023

Spring Cleaning

Image
 There are any number of valid reasons why our snow-park cleanup volunteer numbers were lower than normal this weekend -- there was the predicted zombie apocalypse traffic jam, and it's peak competition time for kids' sports teams so parents are coaching and cheering and shuttling -- but I'm going with the chicken metric.  For years Kare and Aase have put considerable time and effort into creating a grilled chicken feast as part of our annual post-clean-up potluck, for which we are deeply deeply grateful.  The prospect of the chicken has pulled in all kinds of volunteers and turned a run-of-the-mill potluck into a party, where we talk and laugh and eat and drink good things and tell stories about the ski season just past and make plans for the summer ahead.  But it's a lot of work; they're only human, and this year they just weren't up to it.  So our numbers were down.  Coincidence?  I think not. But it turned out okay, because the amount of trash we found was a

We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants

Image
The history of ski jumping, and its sister sport cross country ski racing, in Washington largely parallels the history of the Kongsberger Ski Club.  Witness the  two photos  below from 1949, featuring Olav Ulland and Gustav  Raaum, two  of the founders of our club, with other Norwegian jumpers from Kongsberg, Norway.  Our club historian, Rob Corkran, has put an  enormous amount of time and effort into compiling this valuable history and shares it with us below.  Such a cool story; such amazing athletes who came before us, who inspire us still!  As Rob points out, this is a living breathing document, and your input, your stories, your memories are very welcome; please share! From left: Tormod Mobraaten, Olav Ulland, Petter Hugsted, Kjell Stordalen; photo from US Ski-Snowboard Hall of Fame Four-man demo ski jump in Sun Valley.  From left: Olav Ulland, Gustav Raaum, Alf Engen, Kjell Stordalen; photo from KUOW.org ****** It is now almost a century since Olav Ulland, the lead founder of the