BRATTLEBORO — The idea took root about four years ago when Cadel Cox first attended the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition. Cox knew then that, one day, he wanted to compete at the event. This weekend, he will realize that dream.
“I went there and I was like, ‘That looks really fun,’” Cox said.
Cox, 14, began jumping a little over four years ago as a member of the Harris Hill Junior Jumping Program. From the beginning, Todd Einig, coach and operator of the Harris Hill Junior Jumping Program, said he noticed some special attributes about Cox.
“Cadel was an all around great skier. At that age he was a good cross-country skier and developed good jumping skills pretty quickly just based on that,” said Einig. “The ski knowledge that he had already as a kid, I think he had been on skis for quite some time, since he was young, so that made him a good all around skier and that enabled him to pick up ski jumping very quickly.”
While both jumps are towers, Einig said that the inrun tracks are different. Harris Hill has a manmade snow track while Lake Placid has a frost rail track that is manufactured to World Cup standards. Additionally, the way skiers come off the jump and the way they fly is different, Einig said.
Cadel Cox has heard some of those differences as well.
“I’ve heard that it’s a scarier hill than the one at Lake Placid, just the way it flies, the way it flies higher,” Cox said of Harris Hill. “There are differences in the profile, but I’m not feeling too scared right now.”
After about a year with the Harris Hill Junior Jumping Program, Cadel was progressing to bigger jumps. Through the coaches and the close community that exists in the sport of ski jumping, Cox’s father, Justin Cox, learned about the Andover Outing Club. Cadel Cox joined and has been preparing for this weekend’s competition as a member of the club, which meets at Proctor Academy.
“There’s a lot of sharing of coaches and hill resources in New England because no one place has the full progression of jumps,” said Justin Cox. “So, when kids get to a certain level the coach will be like ‘Ok, we’ve got to get you up to Proctor to the 38, or we have to get you up to Lebanon for the 50, or down in Connecticut to jump the 65,’ so, it’s all this sort of sharing and it’s an open and welcoming community.”
Cadel jumped the 90-meter hill in Lake Placid, N.Y. last year. Since then, he has been targeting the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition. Though he doesn’t get there often, Cox said he trains on the Lake Placid hill, four and a half hours from home, whenever possible.
Cox’s connection to Brattleboro through the Harris Hill Junior Jumping Program makes him a rarity in this weekend’s competition. He is one of the few local jumpers competing. Spencer Knickerbocker has been the primary local jumper in the competition in recent years. He has competed in every Harris Hill event since 2009. He will be competing again this year, but is excited that there is another jumper with local ties competing in this year’s event. Furthermore, he feels that having a younger, local person competing in the event is important at this time.
“I think it’s really critical, especially as they’re trying to rebuild the junior jumping program,” Knickerbocker said. “And I’m certainly at the point in life where I’m ready for a younger, local jumper to take the reins and be the local person that’s still competing, so I think it’s really exciting.”
The Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition draws crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 people per day. Cox said he is looking forward to competing in front of that many spectators, especially since there are several people he knows who will be attending the event.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m really excited for this. It’s incredible the progress that I’ve made,” Cox said.
The size of the crowd is an aspect of the jump that Knickerbocker said is very unique.
“It’s going to be a really cool opportunity for him,” Knickerbocker said. “One of the really special things about Harris Hill unlike a lot of other events that are on the circuit is how big the crowd is here and how loud it is. It feels like you’re in a stadium. It’s a really unique atmosphere.”
Going into the this weekend’s event, Einig said that he hopes Cox has some long jumps, performs well, but also enjoys the experience.
“It’s a big event. It’s a U.S. Cup event so it’s kind of next level and he’s competing against a lot of the best kids in the country,” Einig said. “We have (2), 3,000 people each day. So, there’s a lot of hoopla, there’s a lot of fanfare. I hope that he takes away that it’s a great experience and I hope he continues to come back.”
