Ski Jumping in Eau Claire

We went to the ski jumping contest on January 20, 2018 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.   The weather was mid-winter perfect, just above freezing which is about 10 degrees warmer than average and well above the dreadful cold it's capable of her.  Consequently the hardy locals were out in force.  I started taking pictures from the bottom of the hill.

Like watching a jet landing, from a distance the contestants didn't look like they were moving all that fast.

If a contestant made a good long jump, the announcer told the crowd to shout "Dilly Dilly".    Dilly Dilly is written in the snow on the right so this jump clearly rated a shout.

I clambered up a somewhat icy packed-snow route to a lookout part way up the hill - a bit of which shows in the first picture on the left side.  It was the perfect place to watch the contestants come sailing silently by.  I was amazed at how suddenly they appeared, the height some attained, and how little time I had to frame them in my camera before they were past.   It's hard to believe they could go so fast and not break every bone in their body when they landed.

You can see how high this skier was and get a sense of how fast he was moving.

I ran into some of my relatives from the Huber clan at the lookout, showing the kids the scene.

My son was wandering around the lookout with me, a fellow sturdy it's-not-that-cold Upper Midwesterner.

The biggest adventure of the night for me was walking/sliding back down.   Many kids just lay down and slid down the hill but given my maturity and sense of dignity, I carefully walked down instead.

Some of my warmth addicted southern friends have bragged knowingly about how balmy it is where they live but they wouldn't see something like this on their darned sunny boring beaches.  Ski jumping under lights is quite a spectacle and let me tell you, these contestants could really fly!