Ski jumper honored

BRATTLEBORO - Since 2002 the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame has recognized more than 70 athletes, pioneers, and contributors who have made skiing or riding history in Vermont and beyond. Olympian Jim Holland will be celebrated at an induction ceremony presented by the museum on Sunday, February 20, at the Harris Hill Ski Jump as part of Harris Hill’s 100th anniversary celebration event.
Holland was raised in Norwich, across the river from the Dartmouth ski jump in Hanover, NH. He and his older brothers grew up ski jumping; all went on to be Olympians. He and his oldest brother Mike were Olympic jumpers and Joe was a Nordic combined athlete.
In 1987 during a training jump at Lake Placid, NY, Holland suffered a massive fall when his skis hit an ice patch while approaching takeoff, something modern-day hill formats and preparation protect against. Breaking four vertebrae and undergoing back surgery at the age of 19, some might have believed his ski jumping days were over. However, never one to back away from a challenge, Holland went on to win six national ski jumping championships and compete in two Winter Olympics.
Before the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, Holland drastically changed his technique. Instead of jumping the traditional way with skis straight and body extended forward, he turned the tips of his skis out like a “V” and sailed farther than he ever had before. His 12th-place finish there was among the top performances by a US jumper. He jumped at the Winter Games at Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.
In 2007 the US Ski Team abandoned ski jumping and Holland stepped in as the sport was unraveling. With no national team, he helped start and fund USA Nordic Sports, a nonprofit in Park City, UT, that runs men’s and women’s national jumping and Nordic combined programs, keeping the sport alive.  Today Holland continues to support the sport of ski jumping, including charitable support to Ford Sayre Memorial Ski Council’s jumping program. He continues to mountain bike and downhill ski.
 No stranger to confronting challenges head on, Holland now faces his toughest yet. With a Parkinson’s diagnosis, Holland is determined to fight back and is putting resources toward research to find a cure. Someday he’ll tell all he had Parkinson’s.
Tickets are available at www.harrishillskijump.com.