{"id":576,"date":"2017-08-08T09:32:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T14:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/?p=576"},"modified":"2018-12-10T14:20:28","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T20:20:28","slug":"pop-hill-ski-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/pop-hill-ski-jump\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop Hill Ski Jump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pop Hill Ski Jump<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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Jeff M. Sauve<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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As the son of the chemistry department chair, Peter Agre spent many hours as a child in the 1950s playing on the St. Olaf College campus, including at the Pop Hill ski jump. Years later, Agre recounted those experiences: \u201cIn summer, we climbed the rickety old ski jump that once stood at the top of Thorson Hill and would let fly our basketball. It reached high velocity and often bounced all the way across Greenvale, fortunately never hitting any of the astonished farmers as they drove their trucks into town.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25-foot wooden ski jump was dedicated on January 14, 1911, making St. Olaf one of the first U.S. colleges to offer ski jumping. By January 1913, an upgraded 72-foot metal scaffold was erected and named in honor of Anders Haugen, the 1910 U.S. national ski jumping champion and world record holder.<\/p>\n

Annual tourneys attracted the best amateur skiers from across the northwestern United States and Norway, garnering 1,500 or more spectators. In 1930, the Haugen Ski Jump was modified essentially for one student, Lloyd Ellingson, who became national intercollegiate ski champion. He was also a member of the 1932 Olympic ski team.<\/p>\n

Officially the ski jump record of 90 feet was set by Wilbur Najjar, a skier from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Another skier from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Joe Nowak, leaped 94 feet, but landed in the crowd and fell, so his jump did not reach the record book.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest campus hoaxes took place in 1946 at the groundbreaking of Thorson Hall. Officials and spectators were horrified to see a body hurtle from the top of the slide and plunk to the ground below. Pandemonium ensued as the crowd rushed to the scene. An ambulance was summoned and arrived quickly with siren screaming. All this help was for a dummy, fashioned and tossed off the slide by prankster students.<\/p>\n

By February 1961, college officials had the venerable wooden ski jump permanently removed; it was determined to be potentially unsafe for neighborhood children. Disuse due to mild winters in the previous several years contributed to its demise. In addition, development of the athletic area below the jump had changed the grading of the landing slope\u2019s outrun, making it unusable for ski jumping.<\/p>\n

Agre must have learned a few things from launching basketballs down the slide\u2014he was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in chemistry.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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Thorson Hall Groundbreaking Ceremony with Professor Paul G. Schmidt, March 26, 1946<\/h3>

One of the greatest campus hoaxes took place in 1946 at the groundbreaking of Thorson Hall. Officials and spectators were horrified to see a body hurtle from the top of the slide and plunk to the ground below. An ambulance was summoned, and it arrived quickly with siren screaming. All this help was for a dummy, fashioned and tossed off the slide by prankster students.\n\nSource\nSt. Olaf College Archives<\/p><\/div>

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Popping off on Pop Hill Ski Jump.<\/h3>

Early ski jumping tourney held at St. Olaf College, ca. 1913.\n\nSource\nSt. Olaf College Archives, Gerhard Peterson Photo Collection<\/p><\/div>

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King of the Hill<\/h3>

Lloyd Ellingson, member of the 1932 U.S. Olympic Ski Team.\n\nSource\nSt. Olaf College Archives<\/p><\/div>

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Original Wooden Ski Jump, a.k.a. Haugen Ski Jump, ca. 1913.<\/h3>

The ski jump was named after Anders Haugen (October 24, 1888 \u2013 April 14, 1984), an American ski jumper who won four national ski jumping championships. He was the first American to win an Olympic medal for ski jumping.\n\nSource\nSt. Olaf College Archives, Edolph A Larson Photo Collection<\/p><\/div>

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Current View: Old Thorson Hill Ski Jump<\/h3>

For the last 50 years, this hill has served as the site for the local Easter egg roll.\n\nCreator\nMelanie Jones, April 15, 2015<\/p><\/div>

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Current View: Old Thorson Hill Ski-Jump<\/h3>

For years this hill served as a winter playground for St. Olaf students. Today, it is the home of the local Easter egg roll.\n\nCreator\nMelanie Jones, April 15, 2015<\/p><\/div>

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Bombs Away!<\/h3>

Lars Kindem ’55 recalled it was not uncommon for students on the ground to toss snowballs at ski jumpers in mid-flight.\n\nCreator\nSt. Olaf College 1950 Viking yearbook\n\nSource\nSt. Olaf College Archives<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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