Lake Placid, NY – Lake Placid’s Olympic Ski Jumping Complex will be the site of the U.S. Ski Jumping Championships on Sunday, Oct. 11. The normal hill championship will take place on the HS100 meter hill in Lake Placid as part of a full weekend of ski jumping during the annual Flaming Leaves Festival, Oct. 10-11, which also features a warmup USSA ski jumping competition on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Headlining the weekend will be Lake Placid’s own Nina Lussi, who picked up her first U.S. title in August on the large hill at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. Lussi recently scored her first World Cup-level points with two top-30 finishes in Chaikovsky, Russia and two more in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the FIS Ski Jumping Summer Grand Prix. She will face a challenge from teammate Nita Englund, of Florence, Wisc., who took third overall in the summer tour.
The battle for the men’s title is expected to be close with Park City’s Will Rhoads coming in on the heels of his first title a month ago. He’ll be challenged by Illinois’ Kevin Bickner, fresh off a point-scoring finish on the FIS Summer Grand Prix in Japan.
“The Flaming Leaves Festival is one of my favorite events not only because it’s in my hometown but also because of the atmosphere,” said Lussi from the Summer Grand Prix in Kazakhstan. “The fall foliage is beautiful and there is live music and barbecuing at the jumps. It will be great to catch up with the rest of the U.S. again and I’m sure it will be a great competition.”
“U.S. nationals in Lake Placid is always an awesome event and atmosphere to be a part of,” said Rhoads. “Having won the large hill championship earlier this summer I am looking forward to this event as a chance to earn another title. It is always exciting to compete in a place with so much Olympic heritage and history and I am looking forward to bringing my best performance to Lake Placid this October!”
The Flaming Leaves Festival, which begins at 10 a.m. both days, features a wide array of live music plus barbeque and a full weekend of fun mixed with ski jumping.
U.S. Championships in ski jumping are traditionally held during the summer and fall on all-season jumps, such as Lake Placid. Ski jumping is one of the few winter sports that can be conducted in in summer with virtually the same type of competition as in winter.
The Championship is jointly organized by the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA).
“Lake Placid is proud of its ski jumping legacy beginning with Art Devlin, who blazed the trail that so many who have followed including the likes of Jay Rand, Peter Frenette, Nina Lussi and so many others,” said ORDA President and CEO Ted Blazer. “Lake Placid is proud to be hosting this event again during the Flaming Leaves Festival.”
U.S. SKI JUMPING CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Flaming Leaves Festival – Lake Placid, NY
Saturday, Oct. 10
10:00 a.m. – Flaming Leaves Festival opens
12:00 p.m. – Trial Round NYSEF HS100 meter USSA ski jumping competition
1:30 p.m. – NYSEF HS100 meter USSA ski jumping competition
Sunday, Oct. 11
9:30 am – Trial round HS100 meter U.S. Ski Jumping Championships
10:00 a.m. – Flaming Leaves Festival opens
11:00 a.m. – U.S. Championship HS100 meter competition round (two jumps) begins
Afternoon – Flaming Leaves Festival continues featuring live music, barbecue and more