Vǫlubrjótr

Born in St Paul, Minnesota I was raised a Roman Catholic and a Nordic Ski Jumper From Age 5. Mother German & Father Dane, I’m 50/50 And I learned To Ski Jump In Areas Such As The Hills Overlooking The Minnesota Vikings Football Stadium. Later Moved To Montana And Traveled Extensively Ski Jumping Throughout The U.S. And Canada Participating In The CanAm Games And National Championships 5 Times With The Longest Standing Ride At The Last Nationals. I Was Asked To Be On The U.S. Special Ski Jumping Squad Which I Turned Down To Enter College. Yes, Sometimes I do Regret Doing That, As I Was Known To Be A Long Distance Jumper, But I Have A Whole Bunch Of Wonderful Memories.

I skied with Norway’s National Ski Jumping Champion Oyvind Torp When Attending College, Where I Earned Almost 2 Degrees, One In Engineering, And Almost Another In Sociology. In The Northern Conference, I Out Jumped Hall Of Famer Jan Stenerud’s Old Hill Record, Who Was Then Kicking For The Kansas City Chiefs.  Jan Was First A Ski Jumper From Norway, Who Was Awarded A Scholarship To Come To The U.S.A. To Both Ski And Place Kick. The Universities Liked The Ski Jumpers From Norway For Their Leg Strength And That Is Why Both Jan And Oyvind Became Well Known Place Kickers

Stenerud was born in Fetsund, Norway and grew up playing hockey and soccer. His true talent, though, was as a competitor in one of Norway’s national sports – ski jumping. In the early 1960’s, Jan finished sixth in the Norwegian Junior Nationals. He was a promising jumper, but the young Stenerud’s life would take a detour – through Montana.

Oyvind And I Battled Back And Forth That Day On Jan’s Old Hill Record, Where Finally Oyvind With A Two Hands Dragging Just Out Jumped Jan’s & My First Short Lived Hill Record. I had One More Jump Left, Where I could Reset The Hill Record In My Favor. So down The Inrun I went And I Hit The Takeoff With Everything I had, In The Air I Realized I was Heading For The Flats (Out Jumped The hill), I Stuck Out My Arms Tried To Lean Back To Pull Out Of A Devastating Situation.

THE INRUN

I Was Able To Land On The Landing Hill But I suffered A Complete Fall With A Concussion, Though I stood On My Short Lived Record, Oyvind Drug Both Hands And It Was Something I Would Teasingly Never Let Oyvind Forget. From That Day Forward, I always Jumped With A Hard Helmet.

I had now Out Jumped Two Hills And Believe Me Your Stomach Falls To Your Knees When Peering Through Your Skis You See The Flats Coming. You Have To Flail Like Crazy Backwards Using As Much Wind Resistance As Possible In Order To At Least Hit The Sloping Landing Hill. I seriously Think This Is Why I Opted To Enter College Rather Than Continue, As Some Of My Fellow Ski Jumpers Have Been Killed ( Jeff Wright) And Severely Injured By Bad Falls. One Had Out Jumped The Holmenkollen In Oslo Norway And Broke His Leg In 17 Places ~ Its Amazing He Doesn’t Look Like A Slinky!

THE HOLMENKOLLEN SKI JUMP OSLO, NORWAY

ALEX LOWE

One Of My Acquaintances At Home Here In Montana Was Alex Lowe, Who Would Come Up And Watch Us Ski Jump. One Day He Offered To Teach Me How To Mountain Climb, If I would Teach Him How To Ski Jump. He Very Much Insisted On Me Learning, But I Did Not Want Anything To Do With Hanging By A Rope On Some Mountain Side. I had No Problem With Teaching Him About Ski Jumping But It Never Came To Pass. One Evening I happened To Take My Two Young Sons To The Ice Rink And There Again We Met Where He Too Had His Children Skating And We Shook Hands For The Last Time. Just Shortly Thereafter In The Autumn While Climbing Mt Shishapangma – The Himalayas In Tibet, Alex And His Photographer Were Killed By An Avalanche.

One Day The Football Coach Was Having A Wager With The Ski Coach Here About Football Players And Skiers Leg Strength. Well Wagers Were Made, And Us Jumpers One At A Time Stepped Onto The Box Platform From Which A Large Chain Came Out Of The Middle. It Was Like Dead Lifting, But It Measured Just How Strong Our Legs Were, To This Day That Record Is Still Held By Yours Truly, So I did End Up Holding At Least One Record. :O) Ha!

WORLD RECORD 785.761′ ~ 239.5 METERS

Planica,Yugoslavia Ski Flying Hill Is The World’s Largest ~ Though Banff, Alberta Has The Highest Takeoff In The World. I Went Off Of Banff

And Believe You Me, That Takeoff Is High.

WORLD RECORD OUTDISTANCED BUT WAS A FALL 240 METERS

JANNE HAD A MUCH MORE POWERFUL JUMP AND WAS BACKING OUT NEAR THE BOTTOM ~ IF HE WOULD HAVE KEPT PRESSING INTO THE RIDE, HE WOULD HAVE OUT-JUMPED THE HILL AND PROBABLY SUFFER VERY SEVERE INJURIES. YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO AGAIN AND SEE HIM JUST STARTING TO FLAIL BACK WHEN HE REALIZES HE HAS MUCH TO MUCH FORWARD INERTIA.

DANISH VIKINGS

Vǫlubrjótr

From Landnámabók, Íslendingasögur, and Snorri’s Heimskringla:

(witch-breaker, exorcist)

Political Vel Craft

n

(cf. O.N. vel “trick, craft, fraud,” vela “defraud”). Perhaps ultimately related to O.E. wicca “wizard”

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