October 3, 2001

Apparently my mom is not the only person reading my diary.

My September 4 entry, entitled "Olympic Games or The Dating Game?," generated quite a response from journalists. Most of the feedback has been positive and has provided plenty of material for my diary. Now that I know someone other than my mom is reading this, I must admit that I am feeling a little pressured to write something intelligent and witty. (I think I'm better at jumping).

So, because I offered the challenge, I'm obligated to respond. For everyone who e-mailed, thank you for your interest and support -- I'll try to answer as many questions as possible during the lead-up to Salt Lake.

Here's today's question:

You are correct. Journalists are reading your diary entries. As you may be able to tell from my e-mail, I work for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. So, let me be the first to ask: How has your sport changed in 10 years? Thanks.
-- Paula Parrish, Denver

The most significant change for the sport of aerial skiing occurred in 1994, when aerials debuted as a full-medal Olympic event in Lillehammer, Norway. Moguls, freestyle skiing's other event became a medal sport in 1992 as part of the Olympic program in Albertville, France.

The Olympics brought a sense of respectability to a sport that had previously been described as wild and crazy. Olympic status is extremely important for amateur sports. Being a medal sport means, in many countries (Canada included), national federations receive increased financial support from their governments and Olympic Committees. These days, the Olympics are big business. Olympic medals equal sponsorship dollars. A lot of amateur sports would whither and die, were they not part of the Olympics. Being on the Olympic program brought new countries, such as China and a number of former Soviet Republics (The Ukraine, Belarus), who had before shown little or no interest in aerials to compete on the World Cup circuit. Athletes from these countries are now some of the top contenders on tour.

The jump site itself has changed. The jumps are bigger (triple kickers were about 3.3m high in 1992, now they're around 4.1m tall) and their shapes are precisely measured to make sure they are the same from week to week. In order to get off these new higher jumps, athletes must be traveling even faster than before, reaching speeds in excess of 70km/h.

When I first started jumping, the coach would watch my speed and decide by just looking at me whether I'd have enough speed to perform the jump I was planning. It's not quite an exact science and it's not fun if you're wrong.

Now we rely on technology and sound like a bunch of whiny kids if the speed trap fails or the batteries die on the speed gun. Some teams travel with a speed gun just in case the speed trap breaks. No longer content with a simple windsock, the electronic wind gauge is the latest jump site toy.

All of these gadgets are necessary because in the past ten years jumping has evolved to the point where an athlete has to be almost perfect to win. Being half a kilometer off your desired speed can make the difference between finishing first and finishing tenth.

Ten years ago, women were making the podium by performing a straight-over double flip and a single-twisting double flip. Today, most women are planning on competing with at least one triple-twisting double flip, or a twisting triple flip. And these must be done well to place. In the early 90s, most men were just happy to land a quadruple-twisting triple flip (think Elvis Stojko, then add three flips). These days, skis have to be together, body tight, and landing exact.

In order to perform at this level, training had to change. Instead of competing in two or three of the freestyle events (aerials, moguls and acro [a good example of a sport that died because it failed to become an Olympic event]) athletes specialize in just one. Aerialists used to be content with water ramping (summer training into water) for a few weeks at the end of the summer or weekends here and there. This year my team started ramping in May and won't be finished until late October. There were times in the '90s when my team didn't have a technical coach. Now we have two, plus a trampoline coach in the summer. Ten years ago numerous athletes made a living by jumping in shows when they weren't competing. While aerialists still do shows occasionally, most of us on the World Cup tour are full-time athletes.

The training facilities are better -- instead of jumping into ponds in someone's backyard, we have swimming pools built specifically for ramping; we have change rooms and showers, not just trees. We have strength coaches, conditioning programs, sports psychologists, nutritionists and daily goals.

Because athletes are committing all of their time to training, most need to make money competing in order to continue. As a result, prize money has increased. Aerialists have become more media savvy. Despite being labeled as amateurs, we have become very professional at what we do.

So Paula, here are some of the changes my sport has seen in the past ten years. While much is different, there are still a few things that have stayed the same. Regardless of our new, slick, professional look, the athletes really haven't changed a whole lot. To me, there is still nothing that compares to a calm, sunny day, a soft landing hill and being able to fly.

-- Veronica

 

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