Jan 24, 2008 7:19 pm US/Central
103rd Norge Ski Jump Tournament This Weekend
FOX RIVER GROVE, Ill. (CBS) ―
It's one of the oldest sporting events in the Chicago area. This weekend, athletes from around the globe will converge on Fox River Grove for the 103rd Norge Ski Jump Tournament, a sport not for the faint of heart.
It takes nerves of steel to launch yourself off of a 150-foot tall tower, but then again, ski jumpers aren't your typical athletes.
Gene Brown said, "We consider it the original extreme sport."
Albert Gasienica said, "It's a rush for us, that's why we keep doing it."
Krzysztof Kowalcyzk said, "You're always nervous. The biggest problem during the competition is controlling yourself."
For over a century, ski jumping has put this sleepy village in the northwest suburbs on the map. In fact, Norge is the oldest continuous ski jumping organization in North America.
Brown said, "It's the only jump in Illinois, probably the southernmost jump in the country. So it really is unusual to have a facility like this in this part of the country."
One of the better jumpers competing this weekend will be 18-year-old Mike Glasder from Cary, who's been taking on the 70-meter jump since he was 9 years old.
"I was pretty scared the first time I went off that thing. 'I don't know if I can do this.' The only way you can understand what it's like is by coming out and watching it. It's a thrill. We get a thrill out of watching all the people down there cheering for us. We can hear everybody way at the top up there," Glasder said.
Gasienica said, "We need as many people coming out here and joining the club. There's not a lot of members right now, so we're hoping to recruit some kids and whoever else wants to come and try out."
This weekend is the 103rd annual ski jump event at Norge Ski Club with a junior Olympic qualifier Saturday and the main event Sunday beginning at noon.
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