What do you think about the hill here in Hinterzarten, compared to other hills?

T: I like this hill, because it flies very well and I wasn’t jumping well here, but it’s a well-designed hill that flies very cool, I think. I like it more than Oberstdorf and Schönwald, this is a kind of a weird hill. I like it, I think it’s a good hill

L: It’s a good hill, it’s got a good rythm, but it’s a new-designed hill so it’s hard to jump. It’s a good design and it‘s nice and it’s fun to jump.

B: I actually didn’t like the hill as much as Logan and Tim did. I had a hard time finding the rythm coming into the curve. I think, basically I wasn’t jumping as well as I was in Oberstdorf. But I mean, I don’t know, I might like it better some other time.

J: I like the hill even more than Tim did, because I went consistantly farther than Tim did. The hill’s really nice, I like the design of the hill, the condition itself was really good, the plastics... the track and the in-run is really smooth... the bars are not very good, they’re really hard to get up and down, and they should at least put some new rope on them and the grass is a little bit scatchy, that kinda rips your skis apart.

You’ve been to Oberstdorf before... Tell me about it!

B: I like Oberstdorf a lot actually. I skied pretty well there, the wind gots around my side in the first round. I liked it a lot.

L: I’ve been there before, I skied Alpin Cups there and I didn’t like it when I was there before, because it’s just too quick in the take off, so you’re too high...

T: The first session we had in Oberstdorf I really liked it, because I was jumping better but then I started jumping crappy, because the table is really short and I have a timing-problem for some reason. And there is no pressure, I can’t get a flight position there. It wasn’t that much fun.

J: I pretty much hated Oberstdorf, it was a pretty bad hill like conditions... I tripped going up the stairs pretty much every time and the transition is way too quick, no pressure in the air, I couldn’t keep my tips up. I just didn’t really jump that well there. It‘s hard to find any rythm. It was just really strange, because you’re so high and you just drop out and don’t go anywhere, because you have no pressure. And the grass was bumpy and the landing-hill was bumpy... It wasn’t very good for doing telemarks or anything like that.

In general, do you prefer summer or winter competitions?

B: I kind of like summer competitions better, because they are a little bit more consistent for everyone, because pretty much everbody has about the same wax and it‘s not like in the winter where it could start snowing halfway through. The conditions are always the same, so it’s pretty good. There are more people watching usually because it’s more comfortable for the audience. And I like plastic more than snow because it‘s easy to land on.

T: I like summer competitions better, it seems like it’s more laid-back, it’s pretty fun. And right after the competition you can hang out and aren’t supposed to put your snow pants on and boots... I like summer competition a lot better.

L: I like competing in the winter a lot more, it’s a winter sport, that’s what it’s supposed to be. You can definately tell a lot of differences when you ski a lot of hills in the winter. They’re designed to be skied in the winter, so that’s pretty much what I like about them. I like Park City, the big hill. It’s a lot better winter hill than a summer hill. Summer is good, because the training is good for improvement and stuff, but it’s definately a winter sport and you gotta work on it in the winter and be able to do it in the winter.

J: I like training in the summer time, just because you get more jumps. And it’s more laid-back and it’s cool that it‘s so hot outside. You can go chill with your friends afterwards and stuff. But I think, I like winter time, just the rythm of the hill, how it’s all quiet and nice and smooth. I think I jumped a little bit better in the winter time and it’s a winter sport and that’s what it always has been. So jumping in the summer is fun, I like it, it’s consistent and it’s awesome to train. But the winter time is just cooler I think. You fly better and there‘s always more air in the winter, because it’s cooler.

So you mentioned that in summer the conditions are about the same for everyone. What do you think about the discussion about using heated porcelaine tracks in winter?

T: I think it would be better to use a snow track in winter, because I don’t really like the porcelaine very much, even though it‘s always a perfect track. I just think they should use a winter track.

L: In places like this, I mean, when you come here and it rains all the time, then it sucks, when you ski on a winter track and it‘s all wet and sticky, it’s inconsistent. And they’re are guys falling in the in-run and stuff like that... I mean, so it’d be good to have heated tracks, but I definately think, as much as possible, in the winter time it should be a winter track. Like I said before, it‘s a winter sport, that’s what it’s supposed to be. But if the conditions are bad, it’d be nice to be able to change it to porcelaine, to be able to jump.

B: In January we were here in Hinterzarten for training and the track was like completely slushy and like all messed up and when we were training here it wasn’t very consistent. So I think in that given circumstance it would be better to have a heated track...

J: I think pretty much the only benefit of using a heated track in winter would be the same quality, you wouldn’t have to deal with different types of snow conditions, because if you have man-made snow then it might last for longer, but if you get fresh snow then it can all melten in a couple of days. And if you don’t have a perfect track then it starts to kind of fall apart and lose its shape. I mean, winter tracks are really good as long as you have them properly done.

What do you think about the new regulations the FIS has been anouncing in May? For example tighten the suits again and changing the judging system.

J: I think the suit thing is pretty much a big joke, because first of all it’s all up to the person that’s measuring your body and measuring the suit, because I mean they could pull the tape tight or they could not, they could have it a little bit twisted or not quite at the right ankle... a lot of times you might have a suit, that you think is legal by your measurements and then, you know, three days they decide that that‘s not how they gonna measure it anymore and you have to sow your suit all the time. I don’t know about the new judging system, haven’t heard much about that, but I think it should pretty much stay the way it is now. I think flight position is definately really important. So I mean that’s really the whole idea of jumping, your time in the air...

B: I think the new suit rule is kind of weird, as Jonathan said, because the measurement is up to whoever is doing it, whether they wanna measure loose or whether they wanna measure tight. The way we do it is generally more strict, so that we’re legal. My suit was 20 cm too small... Sometimes we don’t know all the rules necessarily, so we get over here and we have to sow the suits in the last minutes and then we find out our suits are too small because we sowed them. I think they should have one rule that’s more consistent for everyone. About the new judging system... I don’t necessarily agree with it, because I don’t really put the best telemarks. I think there should be a little bit of like a judger’s overall impression of the flight position into the landing, because obviously if you go 90 m you’ve done something right. In order to go 90 m you should get at least an 18.0 for going 90 m anyway, because you obviously have done something right. I don’t necessarily think that judging all on the landing is a good idea.

L: The suit rule is not bad, I mean, they need to make something that is gonna be more consistent. I don’t like how small it is, I’d rather have it 8 cm or 10 cm everyhwere, because 6 cm is pretty tight. They’re not very strict with it, because I got tested in Oberstdorf and they just grabbed a little bit to make sure it didn’t look too loose. And the judging... I like the judging idea. It’s good to put more emphasize on landing but the same time there still needs to be flight too, because a lot of those guys fly... I mean, their flights are so bad, u know, and if they land good then it kind of puts guys like Ahonen in disadvantage, that doesn’t land that well, because if he jumps that far he doesn’t land very well and he gots beat by guys that jump all shorter. I don’t think it‘s gonna last that long though...

T: Yeah, I agree with everyone with the suit thing, because the suits don’t need to be any tighter. It‘s very uncomfortable and it’s gonna be the same for everyone if they make the suits bigger anyways, because everyone has to have 8 cm or 10 cm. And the judging thing is controversial, because I think it should stay the way it always has been and obviously if you have a jump past K, then you’ve done something right. But if it was all on the landing, I don’t think the jumper needs to have as much talent in the air and in the rest of the jump, because you just have to be a good skier to put good telemarks. So I think they should stay with the old system.

L: It‘s kind of like they’re trying to punish guys for jumping too far now, because the record on this hill is 112 m and if you jump 112 m... you know, on this new scale you gonna get like a 7.0 or something from each judge for style rather than someone who jumps 106 m and can put a telemark and gets 20.0 from each judge. You know that’s a lot extra points. Right now it just seems like they’re trying to make it harder and harder to go further down the hill. It kind of sucks.

What about Riku, what do you think about him?

L: I like him, he’s a cool guy, he’s fun. And I think he’s a really good coach. And he’s working very well with Kari, I think, listens to him a lot, so I think he can take over next year.

B: Riku’s a really cool guy. He’s funny as hell and when we play soccer it’s really fun, we call him „magic feet“. He’s fun to work with and I can’t wait to make the National Team so I can work with him.

J: I haven’t had that much experience with Riku, but a couple of weeks ago in Park City we trained with those National Team guys and he seemed like he’s a pretty good coach, he seemed to really connect well with me. He doesn’t seem to try to make everyone jump the same, because, I mean, not every jumper does the same and not everybody has their own style, so he kind of understands that not everything works the same way for everybody. And it’s really fun just to be around him, he’s a pretty cool guy.

T: Yeah I agree, Riku’s a bad ass, he’s cool and he knows exactly what he’s talking about on the jump and I like his coaching philosophy and how he helps with everything. He kind of feels more like a jumper instead of... u know, like here’s the coach and there are the jumpers... He’s a good thing for the US Team. I’m glad that we got him and that he’s coaching for us.

So there‘s a big difference to Kari, especially because of the age?

L: Yeah, age for sure... He’s softening up now and he’s better than he was when he first came here. But Riku is good because he’s so much younger and when you have to relate that to skiing, like the last time Kari jumped was 1982, but Riku was jumping in 1996. I mean, when Riku was young he never skied the same level as Kari internationally, but he’s good because he’s more up-to-date with how it is now, how to ski now. That’s kind of nice.

T: I like Kari. He’s a lot older and not as wild as Riku. But he’s really cool and I like him as a coach and I used to be scared of him but I'm not that much anymore. He’s a cool finnish guy and he’s an extremly good coach. So I like Kari, what he says goes, all the time.

B: Kari is a really good coach. Generally when I jumped with Kari I jumped pretty good. I like his coaching style, he can be kind of strict sometimes, but that’s what you need. Kari is a really good coach, but I think Riku‘ll fill his shoes very well.

J: Yeah, I kind of agree with the rest of the guys. Kari’s really strict, he used to be very scary, like I wouldn’t even want to talk to him and I hadn’t seen him smile up until this year, but he seems like he’s pretty cool now. I like him as a coach, training with those guys definately helps me. And I’m looking forward to hopefully be working him in the future on the National Team.

Is there any other coach you’d like to work with one day? Mike Kojonkoski’s often said to be very strict as well...

L: We were talking about Mika the other day and he’s like, I think, for sure one of the bext coaches in the world, but yeah I think he’s kind of a strict guy. But I think that’s good, because you see what he‘s done with the teams. When he was in Austria, those guys were getting world championship medals, winning world cups. The same thing with Finland and I think he gets the job done... Personally I kind of like the coach I‘m training with at home now. Mike, he’s pretty fun. He went to the Olympics in 1980 and things are working well with him.

T: I don’t know. I can’t say much about Mika, obviously he’s a good coach because of what he‘s done with jumping. There’s a couple other coaches... Corby Fisher, I like to jump with him sometimes and other times he gets on my nerves. But I would like to train with Riku and Kari, if I have the opportunity. I don’t mind training with other coaches.

B: I like my old coach in the east, Larry Stone. He was a big impact on my life , I think. Larry Stone is legendary. The thing about Larry is, he can be a friend, he can be a coach and he can be a father for you as well. I think the two years I spent in Lake Placid were probably the most influencial years in my life. I really enjoyed working with Larry Stone.

J: Yeah, I’m kind of coming from the same places. For the past 5 or 6 years I’ve worked with Larry Stone a lot in Placid. You know, I’ve been so young, away from my parents and it was good to have someone like Larry around, because he was there and he was kind of your friend. And when you wanna talk to somebody about something at night, he’s there too, you know. That’s kind of like your dad. He was a pretty cool guy. But pretty much my favourite is my old coach Alexy, because he really taught me how to jump and he really understands my style of jumping. I jump the best when he’s coaching me. I just seem to work really well with him and I’m still emailing him and he sends me tipps over the internet. I’ve always done pretty well with him.

L: Also these young eastern coaches, John Farnham and Jim Carter. I remember John Farnham being a good motivator, he’s a really good coach to get young kids going. His club is a very precidious feeding ground into Lake Placid programs. And then from there working with Larry Stone... so I think John Farnham and Larry Stone were the two most influencial coaches in my ski jumping career.

I guess you all know that I’m in contact with some juniors, for example from Fox River Grove. And they’re all pretty ambitional and looking up to athletes like you. What advices would you give these kids?

L: It’s hard, it‘s definately kind of hard. I made some mistakes that kept me from doing some things already and I’m still young. The thing you definately gotta watch out for is partying too much and whatever. You definately have to be very strict with yourself, eating, training, everything. You always have to be on top of what you wanna do and make sure you’re gettiing stuff done. Because everyday is a chance to change something about the kind of athlete that you are, the kind of person that you are. I still struggle with that stuff, like I’m still not there yet and that’s a thing I gotta go before I can be the best.

J: I think the one thing is just to really work hard, like sometimes you are like „Ah, I’m not really getting anywhere“ and you’re just kind of not motivated to really try harder, but it eventually pays off. It may take a couple of years, but then one day you kind of realize... like you open up an old book with results and you see when you went like 48 m all three jumps on a K90 and you look on where you are now, maybe not winning but you definately do a lot better. You just gotta stick with it... and patience, for sure... Just always remember, no matter who you are and how good you are, there’s always somebody who looks up to you.

B: I think the most important thing a ski jumper has to realize is, that you have to put as much effort as the results you wanna get out of it. You have to give 110% all the time and if you’re not jumping well it’s not the end of the world. There’s always a next day, there’s always a next competition. You always have to go to the hill with something you’re trying to work on. Do the best what you can with what you have.

T: I have to say from what I had to deal with. Follow your dreams despite what anyone else has to say about them. You just have to be working, you have to be really patient with what you’re doing and what you’re working with and sooner or later you’ll reach your goals. So keep fighting.

Most of you guys aren’t training and living at home, so what is it like? Isn’t it a very difficult situation?

T: It’s a pain in the ass. You have to struggle with school and your family. Your parents are like „You’re never with us“ and all that stuff. I like training in Park City, because that’s what I wanna be doing and I’m missing my family and my friends sometimes, but I know that I’m having fun and it hasn’t bothered me that much yet. But it is a pain in the ass.

L: My situation is, that I can’t get the same training in Steamboat. If I had my choice, I’d be at home in Steamboat, because I like the program there, I like my coaches there and everything works pretty good and it’s home. But Park City now is the best place to be. It’s kinda nice to be away from home sometimes, not have to deal with your parents. But the same time you gotta do everything on your own. But I think the training is very good and the programs are good. I wished they had that in Steamboat.

B: Living and training in Park City is kinda hard for me. I’m from Maine, a totally different atmosphere, I'm kind of a beachboy, haunting, fishing, everything outdoors. And then, all of a sudden, I’m living in the middle of a desert with totally different people and a totally different scenario. I miss home a lot. I went to boarding school for two years, so the only time I ever really went home was christmas and maybe a couple of days during the summer. The past summer I spent in Park City, early snow, for Christmas then home for 3 or 4 days and then I’m on the road for pretty much all winter, so that’s pretty hard for me, I don’t necessarily get to see my family all that much, my friends miss me a lot, but, I mean, it’s all gonna be worth it when I’m standing on top of the podium.

J: This summer is my first experience like living for more than two or three weeks away from home. So far it’s been pretty good, I don’t miss my parents yet, but I’m sure I will eventually. I know they miss me a lot. I like where I’m staying in Park City, I’m staying with a really nice family, we have a lot of fun. Training is so much better, we have an awesome weight room and perfect jumps. Pretty much we need to train is right there within a 10- or 15-minute drive. It’s not quite as hard as like you’re at home and you know you have to go all the way to the schools to do weights or, you know, go out on a run by yourself. Here you have all your friends, that you jump with, and you get to train with them during the day and then hang out with them at night. It’s a pretty good atmosphere. Of course you gotta go on trips and when you’re here in Germany it‘s kinda cool when you think about it, because, I mean, if I decided not to do ski jumping, then I could be sitting at home right now and not be here, jumping Continental Cup and do all that stuff. It’s really great.

Have you ever been in a situation like „This is getting too hard, I’m gonna quit!“?

J: That was kind of actually where I was at right before this summer. Not too sure whether I wanted to keep ski jumping anymore, because I had a lot of pressure on me and going to school and trying to jump at the same time is really hard. I was actually gonna either come here and jump for the summer or I was gonna be going to a summer school. I kind of had to make a decision and I chose ski jumping. I mean, I can always change my mind later, but for now I’m basically headed towards 2006 hopefully.

B: In US ski jumping is kind of financially hard. First when I was younger, when my parents got divorced, I had to quit for a year and a half, so I could make enough money to keep jumping. It’s been a long hard road to where I’m now. I think, if I hadn’t made the Olympics, I might have quit, but now I’m inspired to go the next one. To win hopefully... to make my financial situation through my winnings a lot better.

L: For me it sucks, because I grew up in Steamboat, I had every advantage, the best coaches, the best hills. So I have it very easy, you know, it seems like I have every chance to be good. I grew up skiing with Clint and Tommy and a lot of these nordic combined guys. When you don’t have good results, it’s hard, because you have a lot of pressure when other guys are doing good around you. So I definately thought about quitting, but I never could. Ski Jumping is a little bit too addictive. Most of the time I just stick with and train hard. Now it‘s pretty hard for me too, because I’m actually on the teams. You know, the same type of thing financially for my parents. Paying all that stuff in Park City and coaching. It’s kinda hard but it hopefully will pay off in a couple of years, I’ll be in the Olympics in 2006.

T: Quitting ski jumping hasn’t hit me yet, because I’m freakin addicted, and it‘s so much fun. I definately thought that I might have had to quit to go to school. But I didn’t have to quit and I get to keep jumping. What‘s definately frustrating sometimes is just thinking about, you know, my friends going to college and doing the college thing. I was like „ I wanna take the road less traveled and go down ski jumping". So quitting hasn’t hit me yet, I’m still loving it.

What do you think about women ski jumping as an olympic sport in 2006?

T: I don’t think women ski jumping should be an olympic sport in 2006, because it’s not enough competitors and the competition is not even close too high enough. It’s got a long way to go before it‘s even gonna be considered to be an olympic sport. I mean, the competition level isn’t high enough and there aren’t nearly enough competitors.

L: I think the situation is bad, but what people don’t understand is, the FIS wants to see money and women ski jumping doesn’t generate money. There definately needs to be a bigger base there. Lindsey and Jessica work really hard and a lot of these austrian girls work really hard and they don’t really get to see anything but a couple of competitions a year. That sucks, but at the same time they have to understand that the FIS wants money and they can’t get that money for FIS.

B: For me to be competing in the team competition and having Andreas Goldberger being sitting out was kind of „Wow, I’m lucky that I’m living in the United States and that it wasn’t as hard to make the team as it was for him.“ And I think if women ski jumping was made an olympic sport, girls, who aren’t necessarily competing at a high level, would be getting a trip to Olympics for no particular reason. Like... if Andreas Goldberger didn’t make the Olympic Team and then you see someone like Lindsey Van on the Olympic Team for ski jumping... nothing against Lindsey, I think she’s an awesome girl, but I’m just saying that the level of women ski jumping isn’t nearly as high as what it should be to be in the Olympics. Like Logan said, the FIS is looking for money and... when we were at the Holmenkollen there was maybe a 1000 people for the girls competition and when the girls competition was over 30.000 fans came in... I think, in order for girls ski jumping to become an olympic sport, there needs to be a higher level of competition as well as a higher rate of girls jumping in countries like Austria, Japan, United States...

J: I definately agree with these guys, women ski jumping definately is a long way from the end of the tunnel. There’s not a high enough level and not a high enough number of jumpers to be in the Olympics. I mean, it’d be pretty much like „Eddie, the Eagle“, it would just kind of drag the Olympics down. Right now, I mean, I’m not saying that in the future there won’t be enough good women to be in the Olympics, but right now and in 2006 I don’t think that there will be enough competition and enough skill envolved to be an olympic sport.

L: I mean, if you look on women bobsled or even on women alpine or women hockey, all these sports are the same. I mean, the competitive level is not there. There are definately girls who can jump far  and who can do it and that’s why I think it sucks. So that‘s part of the reason why it#s hard to get girls involved. But I think it should be an olympic sport, probably maybe like an exhibtion sport in 2006, then maybe in 2010 for sure, because they need some time to get all set up.

Ski flying as an olympic sport?

L: I think that’d be cool, but it’d seperate all too much. There would be stuff going on in Germany, in Austria, in Slovenia and that’s not really like Olympics, it’s more like a world cup. It would spread everything so much. It would be really sweet just to have another olympic competition like ski flying, that‘d be awesome. If they could have the events there at the olympic sights and have new ski flying hills... I mean, if the Olympics were going on in France and there would be ski flying in Slovenia, that wouldn'’ be much like the Olympics. So it kind of takes an olympic ideal away, but I still think it‘d be pretty fun.

T: Yeah, I think it would be bad ass to have ski flying in the Olympics, but it’s way too hard to build the hill for the Olympics and it’s not gonna happen, it’s not realistic. I mean, it’d be cool, but there’s no way they could financially do it. And the conditions would have to be ideal and often they’re not at the Olympics. And it would just be too hard to build them.

B: I think ski flying would be an awesome thing in the Olympics, but I agree with the other guys, financially the Olympics are getting too expensive as it is. And then to add building expensive ski flying hills at different venues, would throw the whole olympic budget over and it‘s really a lot... And the ability would have to raise as well, because not necessarily every person going to the Olympics has the ability to go ski flying and it would make it more dangerous, because you not necessarily have consistent safe conditions on a ski flying hill. So when you have someone who isn’t that high of the ability of a jumper, going off a ski flying just because it‘s in the Olympics, it‘s just potentially more dangerous.

J: I think, pretty everything has been said, but with the conditions... I mean, to have enough time for the conditions to remain the same with the wind and snow conditions, would be pretty hard.

What kind of headline would you guys like to read about yourself one day?

B: Welch sets record in Planica...

J: I would like to see myself as having either a hill record or a world cup win on a K120 somewhere in europe. I’d be pretty happy with that.

T: I’d like to be on TV in the United States for more than 5 seconds! That’s what I would like to have happened. Maybe 2 jumps in a competition be on TV, maybe even 3 jumps if I’m lucky. I would hope that if I set a new american record people would know what I was actually doing. Like when Alan went 221.5 m the people at the US Ski Team or like the leading people of the US Ski Team didn’t really have an idea what 221.5 m was. And they are working for the US Ski Team... I would like to see not just a headline for myself, but for all the american ski jumpers, that we were working hard.

L: I’m going to be the second person ever to win all four four-hills, which is the coolest thing that’s ever gonna happen, because then I’m gonna buy a country... I think, an olympic gold medal would be cool to have, just because it would get so much more publicity and stuff going on for jumping in the United States. And consistent world cup wins and consistent world cup top fives would be pretty cool. But olympic gold and four-hills, that‘s what I’m gonna do...

T:  I think, it would be cool to have world record, world cup overall champion, gold medalist in the Olympics, gold medalist as a team in the Olympics... these are the results I would like to produce to change the american view of ski jumping and get some publicity and have people read about me kicking ass. Maybe they would start going for ski jumping like people over here do.

What hill would you like to jump one day?

T: Planica... I would like to jump all the ski flying hills and I would like to jump Copper Peak also.

L: Yeah, I agree, I’d really like to jump the ski flying hill in Oberstdorf. I wanna ski fly Planica as well, you know, all the hills where you can go 200 or 220 m, because I think that’d be the most fun ever. My favourite hill obviosuly right now is Kuusamo, it‘s kind of like ski flying. Jumping new hills is pretty much fun, it‘s hard though because when you’re not jumping good, it‘s not very fun.

B: I think I just wanna jump all the ski flying hills... maybe the Holmenkollen.

Tim, tell me about „Oslo 1“!

T: Well, since there are no jumps in Boise, which sucks, and it‘s hard to train, I built a roller jump out of wood. We finished it in 1997 and got some foam rubber, so there’s a big pat, and called it „Oslo 1“. And when I go home for school, I train on that and it helps me a lot, I think. I’m very happy that we built it, because it‘s a good roller jump and it helped me technically.

Logan, is it true that you’ve been crashing on every in-run in Steamboat Springs?

L: Yeah, I’ve fallen on every in-run in Steamboat, that‘s my fame I guess. A couple of times on the small hills, but... that‘s not too serious but I definately crashed on all the in-runs there so... that’s kind of what I do like falling in the in-run...

Ok, that’s it.

T: Are there any more questions?

No more questions...

T: Ok, I just wanna say: Jenny, thanks for making this website, because it’s really cool and I think it’s definately cool to come over here and have all these people loving the americans. Thanks for supporting us, it‘s very cool. Thank you.

Thank you!