Nordic Combined & Special Jumping

The SSWSC Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined programs are currently the largest of their kind in the world, with more than 170 athletes ages 4-20. Since 1932, the SSWSC has had a ski jumper or nordic combined athlete represented in every Winter Olympics, with the exception of 1936, 42 Olympians.

Howelsen Hill also boasts one of the largest selections of ski jumps in North America with seven jumps ranging from a “bump jump” for beginners to the Olympic-sized HS100 and HS127-meter jumps. Howelsen Hill also offers 25 kilometers of exciting and challenging homologated cross country trails for our nordic combined athletes.

Ski jumping and nordic combined are exciting sports for children of all ages. In our most entry level programs beginning at age 4 or older, we get jumpers started on the “bump jump”. Here we develop a base of comfort and safety, with an understanding of how to approach, lift off, and land a jump, always keeping it fun and encouraging. From there, our professional staff coach the kids through a progression that moves them up little by little from the smaller jumps to the largest jumps sometime in their early teens. The focus is always first and foremost on safety, having fun, skill development, character, and respect for the sport.

We offer different levels of training/involvement for every age group, from the once a week casual jumper to the dedicated athlete with Olympic aspirations.  Athletes can choose to focus solely on ski jumping or participate in the full sport of nordic combined, which means learning ski jumping as well as cross country skiing. In order to make the sport more accessible, we maintain a full inventory of high-end ski jumping equipment that is included with the program fees for U14 & younger programs.

Summer Programs

Ski jumping and Nordic combined are no longer sports exclusive to the winter months. Summer training is extremely significant in both athlete and sport development. When Carl Howelsen started jumping here in Steamboat, the world record was 169 feet. The current world record is a whopping 832 feet!! Such a flight would not be possible without year-round training facilities like ours.

As a combined effort between the City of Steamboat Springs and private donors, two of Howelsen’s jumps (the HS45m and HS75m) are equipped with plastic matting that allows our athletes to train year round. The summer programs combine jump training and camps to other jumping venues along with dryland and endurance training. These summer programs continue to develop our athlete’s fitness, mind, and technique so they are prepared to go into the winter season successfully.

These training programs have been developed to enhance fitness levels specific to ski jumping and nordic combined (J/NC) and to make positive adjustments to technique. There are several training options to accommodate different ages, levels of interest, commitment and busy summer schedules. Training camps are scheduled throughout the summer including trips to Park City for plastic jumping on a broader range of jumps. J/NC athletes not in a fulltime, season-long summer J/NC training program may attend any plastic camp but will be charged a daily coaching fee and equipment charges in addition to camp expenses. Camp details are available prior to each camp through our website or our coaching staff.

CONTACT:Todd Wilson, Jumping/Nordic Combined Program Director