Q & A from Ms. Hannah's (& Grace's) 5th grade class

Was it scary when you first ski jumped?
It was a little scary, but fun. When you are young you start on jumps that are much smaller than what you see on TV... a little more than a mogul. As you get better you progress to bigger and bigger jumps. The jumpers that you see on TV have no fear of going off these jumps. They do it over 500 times a year and rarely fall. We spoke to Swiss jumper Andi Keuttel about what scared him- he said dogs! Never ski jumps, but dogs. I was at the top of the K125 yesterday and I can tell you that the fearlessness does not last for long. There is NO WAY I would go off this jump anymore. These guys are amazing.

How old were you when you started ski jumping?
I was 8 but I have seen people start as late as 12 and still become world class. As with any sport, the key is passion and ability vs. an early start.

Does it matter what skis you have to do the different skiing sports?
Skis make a HUGE difference (and are very different). This is something we haven't had time to show on TV. A jumping ski is over 8' long and 4.5" wide. It has no edges (because you don't need to make precise turns). It is designed to maximize speed on the inrun and then provide a wing to help a jumper fly through the air. A cross country ski is about 6' long, 1.5" wide and weighs nothing. Downhill skis have side cut and edges that help the skis turn. If any of the skiers at the Olympics were to try and use skis from another discipline it would be a disaster.

Do women compete in ski jumping in the Olympics?
Women do not compete in ski jumping (or Nordic combined) in the Olympics- YET. In ski jumping the women have started their own international tour and are petitioning to become an Olympic sport. The Americans are actually very strong in women's ski jumping (as we are in most women's sports). Google Lindsay Van (one of the top Americans) and I'm sure you'll see. I think it's still a long shot that they will be included in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but I expect they will be included by 2014.

If you could do another Olympic sport what would it be?
Downhill (if I had the guts!).

How many years have you been involved with the Olympics?
I worked as a forerunner in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid- those are the guys who test the hill before practice and competition to make sure conditions are good for the real athletes. I competed as a ski jumper in 1984 in Sarajevo and was 9th and 4th on the normal and large hill. In Calgary 1988 I was the jumping coach for the Nordic combined team and also did commentary for ABC who was covering those games. Since then I've been doing commentary for whatever network was covering the games- 1992- Albertville, FRA; 1994, Lillehammer, NOR; 1998, Nagano, JPN; and 2002, Salt Lake City.

How does it feel to be in the Olympics?
As an athlete in a small sport like ski jumping it feels very foreign. These athletes say that the Olympics are just another competition and that's true. The competitors here are the same as at any of the 20+ world cups they compete in every year. But this is the Olympics and now the world is watching. For the Americans, who get little coverage in non-Olympic years, it's like walking out of a cave into the headlights of an oncoming truck.

What is it like in Torino, Italy?
As a city, Torino is quite big- about 800,000 people, over 2 million in the region. There are very few tall buildings, though, so it feels much smaller than Boston (though traffic is as bad). There's at least one McDonald's in the city but in general there are very few nationally branded stores and restaurants. No Home Depot, K-Mart, Toys-R-Us, etc. Buying food is especially different here. There aren't any big grocery stores that have everything... many people still buy their meat at the butcher, bread at the baker, etc. The only grocery store in Pragelato is the size of a classroom with very small sections for produce, dairy, etc. Not much selection. Like most old cities in Europe Torino has a very nice old section of town where the roads a generally narrow and the buildings are hundreds of years old. The city has grown around this.

As far as the Torino scene during the Olympics, I can't really say as I haven't been there since before the games began. I'm in the tiny village of Pragelato that is only 50 miles away but feels like it's in a different solar system. Pragelato is hosting the jumping and cross country events and has a festive Olympic feel all its own- there are lots of different athletes walking around in different uniforms... and fans speaking different languages. The valley locale provides good viewing even if you don't have a ticket. It's not unusual to see people lining the road or sitting in balconies with binoculars and a radio or TV- listening to the event they're seeing in front of them. There are lots of police everywhere, but they seem happy and chatty and are as much a part of the social scene as anyone.

Why do they have trees at the end of the ski jump and why don't they use
something else?
I assume you're asking about the little pine boughs that they throw on the bottom of the landing hill. These are spread out so the jumpers can clearly see the transition of the landing hill. Since the jumps are in the shade (and the contours of white on white snow are hard distinguish), the dark pine boughs provide contrast that help the jumpers know what's coming. They've been using pine boughs for as long as anyone can remember- they're very effective and easy to find (since there are usually lots of pine/spruce trees next to ski jumps).