Above the crowd: Norge tournament soars as Olympics preview
The 121st edition of the Norge Ski Club’s annual winter tournament in Fox River Grove was a tale of fire and ice.
Hours before the event began Sunday, smoke from burning wood filled the parking lot, as tailgaters created circles of thaw around fire pits in the freezing weather. They sank their teeth into sausages and emptied their coolers of their stock of adult beverages while waiting for the tournament to start.
Ice was the focus of the main event, specifically a sheet 70 meters long sloping down from a roughly 46-meter tower, propelling ski jumpers from around the world into the skies over the Fox Valley.
Among the tailgaters taking part in the festivities was Mike Vandenbergh of Lakewood, who said he arrived at 6 a.m.
“The guys who have been here for 20 years were like, ‘How did you beat us here?’”
Fellow spectator Dominick Pechous of Bartlett said he came to see potential future Olympians launch their careers. Norge has a history of sending its members to the Olympics. Among them is Wauconda’s Kevin Bickner, who will be making his third Winter Games appearance at the Milano Cortina games this month.
Club officials estimated between 5,000 and 6,000 people attended the first day of the tourney Saturday, which featured mostly junior jumpers, and expected a larger crowd Sunday, when top-level competitors from across the U.S., as well as Norway and Slovenia, participated.
Norge President Scott Smith said the conditions were perfect, with little preparation beyond raking needed for the landing area. The timing was also perfect, with the event sandwiched between NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl, and just before the Olympics.
The tourney was supported by a dedicated crew of volunteers, including Meg Larson of Barrington. She and husband Guy are the parents of two jumpers, son Casey Larson and daughter Cara Larson.
Casey competed at the Olympics in 2018 and 2022, while Cara jumped with the USA Nordic National Team. Both are now retired in Park City, Utah, where Casey coaches with the Park City Ski and Snowboard Team, and Cara is affiliated with USA Ski Jumping as media coordinator and team manager.
“It’s a passion of ours to come and support the club,” Meg Larson said. “They've been so good to us over the years. It’s a great community and great fun.”
“There is a newfound calmness during the winter season,” now that their children have retired, she added “You’re not watching for results.”
Competitor Anders Giese, a Norge club member who lives in Wilmette, agreed that the conditions were excellent for Sunday’s jumps.
“The landing hill’s nice and hard but not icy. The tracks are really good, really fast. There’s a little bit of tail wind up on the hill, which kind of removes what’s under you, keeping you up in the air, which makes it kind of tough,” he said. “But that just benefits the people who are good technically.”