Ski Jumping
Sarah Hendrickson's Comeback at the Sleeping Giant
A flying return to glory with a landmark jump on a restored, iconic New Hampshire ski jump.
The historic Nansen Ski Jump, a towering 171-foot-tall steel structure built in 1938 in the former mill town of Berlin, New Hampshire, has sat unused and dilapidated for over 30 years. The jump, nicknamed “Big Nansen,” hosted the first Olympic ski-jumping qualifiers in 1938 and was a training and competition ground for the Nansen Ski Club, the country’s oldest continually operating ski club. Four U.S. Ski Jumping National Championships were held here over the years.
But by 1985, the jump wasn’t being used and fell into disrepair, so it was shuttered for good. Or, at least, until now.
On Saturday, March 4, American ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson, in the midst of her own comeback after a devastating knee injury put her out of World Cup competition for 18 months, took one remarkable jump at a now-restored Nansen Ski Jump, which is in the process of being converted into a historic landmark. The leap was the first jump at Nansen in 32 years. Women’s Ski Jumping junior team member Anna Hoffmann joined Hendrickson as a jump tester.
“Two years ago, we proposed this idea and a couple of days ago, we really didn’t know if it would come together,” said Hendrickson, a Team Visa athlete. “It was so cool to ski out at the bottom and see the community at the bottom of the hill, everyone happy and telling their family ties at this jump. It was a priceless day.”
Sarah Hendrickson ready to fly in Milan, NH
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The Nansen Ski Jump, returned to glory
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A jump that was years in the making
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Hendrickson soared around 55 feet off the massive ramp in a brief, calm weather window. The Morecast weather app, a precise weather forecasting tool, was used to nail down the most ideal time for calm weather and wind for Hendrickson’s jump time.
“That’s one of the main things that people told me when we came up with this idea. They said, ‘You better watch the wind. It gets quite windy up there,’” Hendrickson added. “We’ve been watching that and knew that could have happened, but the weather cooperated with us quite well for that window and we got it done. We’re pretty fortunate.”
Hendrickson, 22, grew up in Park City, Utah, but she has family ties to New Hampshire. Her parents, Bill and Nancy, both New Hampshire natives and former ski racers, were high school sweethearts in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and her grandmother still lives in the area.
Preparing for takeoff
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Sarah Hendrickson in the heart of New Hampshire
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“Ski jumping was once a huge part of the community here, and I can still feel that when I am here,” said Hendrickson, the 2013 Women’s Ski Jumping World Champion. “People are really excited about this project and having this jump restored as a historical landmark, it’s really an honor to come back and jump and hear the stories from families in this area.”
The Nansen Ski Jump, which is owned by the state of New Hampshire, has been on the list of historic sites needing repair for years, but it was low on the priority list. “There was enthusiasm and energy to repair this jump, but there just weren’t the resources we needed,” says Ben Wilson, director of the Bureau of Historic Sites for New Hampshire State Parks.
Enter Hendrickson, who first visited the site of the Nansen Ski Jump in the fall of 2015. After climbing up a ladder to the jump’s decking, she beamed, and announced, “I want to hit this.”
Anna Hoffman and Sarah Hendrickson, the heroes
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The lady of the day, Sarah Hendrickson
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It took over a year of planning to restore and modernize the jump for today’s ski jumping technology. Architects and structural engineers accessed the structure’s feasibility, a team of landscapers regraded the hill for a safer landing, contractors spent six weeks in sub-zero temperatures this winter laying all new wood decking, and most recently, a crew of snowmakers from a nearby ski area manufactured enough snow to coat the jump and landing.
“The first time I visited the jump, it looked pretty rough,” Hendrickson said. “But over the past few months, the jump has taken a full 180 for the better.”
Hendrickson returned to World Cup competition last December, after a year-and-a-half rehabilitation for her knee, and she’s been steadily climbing her way back: She’s currently ranked 14th overall on the women’s World Cup ski jumping standings. She said she was relieved to take a break in New Hampshire to do a jump without scores and rankings. “I’ve been in competition mode this whole season so to jump for fun and jump for this community and the world of speed jumping was pretty nice,” she said.
New Hampshire State Parks is now working to get the Nansen Ski Jump listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hopefully, named a National Historic Landmark by the Department of Interior, a process that can take several years to complete.
“With Sarah’s significant career, for her to come out and really show enthusiasm for the site and the history here, it means a great deal,” adds Wilson, from New Hampshire State Parks. “This jump won’t be used for ski jumping anymore, but restoring it has enabled us to draw visitors in to come and learn the history of this site. Bringing this iconic structure back into the public eye has energized the local community and brought back all these wonderful memories.”
Special thanks to the Friends of Nansen Ski Jump, Shawn Costello, Donna Larson, Vaughn Roy, Ed Bergeron, Walter Nadeau, Jay Poulin, Sonny Couture at A.R. Couture Construction Corporation, Milan Lumber, Steve Binette at Rays Electric & General Contracting, Knollstone Contracting, Berlin Water Works, Berlin Public Works, Berlin Fire Department, Berlin Regional Airport, Berlin City Dealership, Gerry Poulin, Eric Grenier, Paul Grenier, Mike Lackie, Romik Developers, HKD Snowmakers, Cannon Mountain, A.D. Excavating, Capone Iron Corporation, Sargent Corporation, NHDOT, Jake Therriault, Levi Arsenault, Brad Boucher, Mike Kelly and NH Division of Forests & Land.