Fox River Grove ski tournament marks 110 years this weekend
While most suburbanites would welcome this week's warmer temperatures, Fox River Grove residents are praying for snow.
The Norge Ski Tournament marks its 110th year this weekend. The tournament starts at noon Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24-25. Gates open at 11 a.m. at 100 Ski Hill Road, north of routes 14 and 22 in Fox River Grove.
Organizers said with temperatures rising, keeping the slopes snowpacked will be a challenge.
In its 110 years, the tournament never has been canceled due to weather.
“It's the only ski club in North America that's never canceled,” said Charlie Sedivec, a member of the Norge Ski Club and the club's unofficial historian. “Right now, 100 percent of our concentration is on making sure that we have a hill to jump on. You can't make any more snow when the temperature is this warm. We're going to stockpile it. Up on top of the hill we will just make a gigantic pile of snow and cover it. It will still melt (but) at a much slower rate.”
Sedivec said the club also owns two snow-making machines that will get turned on if the temperature gets below 23 degrees.
The weekend's forecast calls for 41 degrees on Saturday and 30 degrees on Sunday.
“We've ordered snow from Michigan and had it brought down on trains in years past,” Sedivec said.
In previous years, organizers also have collected scrapings from area ice skating arenas to pack the slopes.
“Every hour-and-a-half or two hours they scrape the ice, so instead of just dumping it out the back they would dump it into trucks,” Sedivec said. “We would haul it out to Norge a day or two before the tournament.”
Gathering ice from the Fox River or clean snow piled up in larger parking lots in town also has been an option in years past.
Organizers anticipate having roughly 60 skiers from all over the country and world. Teams from Slovenia, Finland, and Canada are expected to participate and compete against USA team athletes in the Midwest's Five-Hills Tournament held on the tallest ski hills in several states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.
USA Ski Team jumpers will compete for U.S. Cup points, cash awards and national rankings. The tournament is sanctioned by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding.
“We're going to have one of the best selection of skiers that will be competing this year,” Sedivec said. “There will be a couple of past members of the Polish team that are now living in Chicago that will be competing, as well as some of the top U.S. jumpers in the country.”
A lot has changed in Norge Ski Club's century of ski jumping, yet one tradition remains.
Club members to this day carry snow up onto the tower by using long lines of volunteers, passing bags of snow from one person to the next, and spreading it on the tower and hill by hand.
The club has five hills 5, 10, 25, 40 and 70 meters high.
Sedivec said the design of the jump and the hills at Norge set the club apart, and are much safer than in years past.
“They don't propel the skiers high up in the air,” he said.
The hills are designed so skiers can make longer jumps. In the 1920s and 1930s, the maximum jump distance was around 100 feet. Today, it's at nearly 250 feet for the 70-meter hill, he said.
“Now, this is a fairly new jump we have,” Sedivec said. “We just put this in, in the last 10 years.”
Years ago, the event also attracted a lot more Olympic skiers from Norway, Sweden and Japan. But now there is increasing competition with more global tournaments.
“Now there are so many world class jumps around the world,” Sedivec said. “It's hard to find a weekend that's open when the World Cup skiers aren't somewhere else.”
Two of the club's best skiers will be competing in Norway and Slovenia this weekend, he added.
The club's ultimate goal is to get a member on the Olympic team, which hasn't happened yet.
“It's a long, complicated process that takes place the year before the Olympics,” Sedivec said.
The club has roughly 25 skiers between its junior and senior members, some of whom will be trying out for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Over the years, the club has developed a rigorous training program, with coaches working with kids Tuesday and Thursday nights.
“We've got potentially five skiers, they are the top guns in the country right now,” Sedivec said.
Club member Michael Glasder, 25, of Cary came the closest to making the Olympic team, but lost out by one point, Sedivec said.
“He is our number one jumper,” Sedivec said. “He's been a member of the U.S. team.”
However, Glasder and another club member, Kevin Bickner, 18, formerly of Wauconda, won't be at this weekend's tournament because they will be competing in European tournaments.
Local skiers to watch for this weekend are A.J. Brown of Fox River Grove, 19, who will lead the U.S. team, and Casey Larsen, 16, of Barrington.
Brown and Bickner have been selected by the U.S. Ski Jumping Team to represent the United States in the Nordic Junior World Championships Feb. 2-8 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Both are members of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team and train in Park City, Utah.
Other notable participants include members of the U.S. Ski Team, Nick Mattoon, 19; Trevor Edlund, 17; and Brian Wallace, 21.
For tickets, $10 buttons are available in advance from local merchants until Friday, Jan. 23; $11 buttons available online. Day of event, at the gate: $15. Free admission for children ages 12 and younger.
For details, visit www.norgeskiclub.com.
If you go
What: International “5-Hills” 110th annual Ski Jump Tournament
When: Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24-25; gates open at 11 a.m.
Where: Norge Ski Club, 100 Ski Hill Road, Fox River Grove; less than a mile north of routes 14 and 22
Admission: $10 buttons available in advance from local merchants until Friday, Jan. 23; $11 buttons available online. Day of event, at the gate: $15. Free admission for children ages 12 and younger.
Transport: Free shuttle busses will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday only for spectators. Shuttle bus stops will be made at the Metra train station in Fox River Grove and the Stonehill Shopping Center parking lot at the intersection of routes 14 and 22.
Need to know: Dress for the weather and bring blankets and lawn chairs. No carry-ins or dogs allowed. Food and drink available for purchase.
Details: (847) 639-9718 or <a href="http://www.norgeskiclub.com">www.norgeskiclub.com</a>