New Group Hopes to Restore Ski Jump
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Mar. 17, 2010
UPDATE: On March 9, 2011, the restored 70-meter jump at Gunstock was rededicated in memory of Norwegian skier Torger Tokle.
This month volunteers came together to put a historic New Hampshire ski jump back in action. The newly formed Gunstock Mountain Historic Preservation Society hopes to raise about $500,000 to repair the 1930s structure, according to Greg Goddard, general manager of Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, N.H., which owns the jump.
"I think it can be restored, and I think it will be," says Goddard, who serves on the board of directors of the new nonprofit. "Because [Gunstock Mountain] has such a rich history here, we're very interested in making sure that history is preserved."
The Torger Tokle Memorial Ski Jump is named after a Norwegian immigrant known as the Babe Ruth of Skiing, who set a record there in 1941. As the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame puts it, "Within 18 hours of his arrival on American shores he set a hill record." Tokle entered the U.S. Army and was killed in battle in Italy in 1945.
The jump was last used in 2004 and remained all but forgotten until last year, when Gilford resident Carol Anderson nominated it to the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance's "Seven to Save" list.
"It brought so many people here during the Depression, when there was no money... It really turned the local economy around," Anderson says. "A lot of this history has been forgotten, and I'm trying not to let that happen."
After the alliance named it to the list last October, many supporters stepped forward, hoping to find a solution for the abandoned jump.
"It's exciting and gratifying to see how our acknowledgment of the significance of this resource really galvanized local interest and enthusiasm," says Maggie Stier, shared field representative for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. "The coalition of supporters has been growing on two fronts—to restore the jump and revive a ski jumping program, and to create a museum and archive of material relating to both Nordic and Alpine skiing at Gunstock."
When the money is in hand, the 70-meter jump's steel frame must be stabilized, and parts of its wood decking replaced, Goddard says. The group also hopes to restore the judge's stand and tower, and landscape the grounds before attempting to restore three other jumps nearby.
"I was very grateful that somebody picked up that baton," Goddard says.
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Comments
Submitted by Jim at: March 25, 2010
Superb goal and with the cost of of other snowsports ski-jumping is affordable. Kids love to jump and so does older generation and will as the female side which has great potential. Go for it.