Summer Ski Jump?

The advance weather forecasts for the mid-February ski jump look good. More snow, perhaps, comes later in the week.

I was reading minutes of old Selectboard meetings from the 1950’s and noticed a mention of permission being granted for a banner to be hung advertising the Summer Ski Jump.

What was the Summer Ski Jump and why don’t we do it nowadays?

Comments | 3

  • extremely curious

    Okay, I have to admit the idea of a summer ski jump is just too intriguing for me. I have never heard of this, and was very much hoping SOMEONE would respond with information. Does no one have any idea what this is about? I know there are quite a few people still in the area who lived here in the 50’s who might know (okay, I’m included, but I was only an infant then, so I don’t remember much). Please speak up if you have ANY ideas on this topic!

    Or perhaps you should check the date on the original minutes, Chris, and see if they were from anywhere near around April first?

    • June

      My notes show it was around June 1954 (and perhaps other years). Good guess, though.

      Someone will explain this to us

  • Some summer ski jumping history

    No definitive answers about Brattleboro yet, but I looked at the history of summer ski jumping. It goes back 100 years.

    Maybe some of this information can trigger some memories.

    Early on, people around the world experimented with different materials that could substitute for snow: coco mats, artificial snow, fir needles, borax, powder, rubber, chips, bark, soft soap, spruce needles, waxed bristles, and even almonds.

    Artifical snow seemed to be the way to go after WWII, but shredded green PVC plastic mats became the go-to source for snowless ski jumping starting shortly after 1954. A famous first professional, snowless jump in Sept 1956 made ski jump headlines for freeing jumpers of the need for snow.

    Today, folks are experimenting with other plastics, ceramics, glass, and premium steel.

    So, what did Brattleboro try?

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