The 100th anniversary of Brattleboro, VT’s, Harris Hill ski jump tournament was this past weekend, and the hill’s history was on full display. Through a squally snowstorm on Saturday and a beautiful day on Sunday, jumpers from middle school to masters flew. Junior groups were there from the East, Alaska, Colorado and the Midwest and there were a few Europeans in the senior class. Before the jumping started on Sunday, scores of jumpers past, from Bill Koch to Walter Malmquist, Rick Hale, Mike Holland and 91-year-old Addison Minott, gathered on the outrun to meet again. Some had been to the Olympics, but they all had Harris Hill in common. The redoubtable Peter Graves, a former jumper himself, was announcing, and Norwich’s Jim Holland was inducted in absentia into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame with his brother Mike speaking for him. Add this to Ryan Cochran-Siegle’s homecoming on Saturday (see below) and you had a ringing testimonial to the vibrancy of Vermont winter sports, all within 48 hours. Mixed b&w and color seemed appropriate to the event.
Click here for a gallery of the jumping scene.
Click here for a gallery of the veteran jumpers who returned to be at Harris Hill again.
