Big Thunder Ski Jumping Center

Big Thunder Ski Jumping Center
Big Thunder

Location
City or town Thunder Bay
Country Canada
Opened 1963 (1963)
Closed 1996 (1996)
Size
K-spot K-120
K-90
Hill record Tommy Ingebrigtsen (137.0 m)
Takanobu Okabe (108.0 m)
Championships
World championships 1995

Big Thunder Ski Jumping Center was a twin ski jumping hill located in Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It hosted 29 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and 50 Canadian Ski Jumping Championships tournaments between 1975 and 1995, climaxing with the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1995. Since then, the venue has been closed and unmaintained.

Contents

History

The location was first identified by Knute Hansen, a ski jumper, who felt that a location in Mount McRae in Lakehead would be ideal for a ski jumping hill. He and Thor Hansen built the first jumps, which opened in 1963 as Lille Norway Ski Area. In 1969, after the Hansens had fallen into economic problems, the venue was sold and renamed Mt. Norway Ski Area. Additional land for the complex was also leased, and the provincial government provided funding to construct the main twin hill, with a K-120 and K-90 jump. Construction of the 70 meter and 90 meter (current K-90 and K-120) hills was completed in 1974. The following year, the venue hosted the first Canadian Ski Jumping Championships. Three years later, the venue was again sold, this time being named Sundance Northwest Resort. In 1981, the Provincial Government of Ontario started redeveloping the site to transform it into a national training center. In 1985, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation bought the site. In the course of five years, they built a K-64 hill, as well as Little Thunder, which consisted of K-10, K-20 and K-37 hills. The two largest of these were equipped with porcelain in-runs and plastic landing slops, allowing for their use during summer.[1]

In 1990, the venue was awarded to host the Nordic World Ski Championships 1995. This required a major upgrade to the infrastructure, including lighting of the hills. After not having hosted a World Cup tournament since 1991, the venue hosted the Pre-World Championships, part of the World Cup, in 1994. The last jump was Tommy Ingebrigtsen's 137 meter jump in the final jumping event in the 1995 World Championships. It was nine meters beyond the existing hill record.[1]

During the campaigning for the Ontario general election, 1995, Conservative Party leader Mike Harris deemed Big Thunder a "cash cow" as part of his Common Sense Revolution. Following the party's victory in the election, the venue was closed.[1] Even though the venue closed, it sill costs the province several hundred thousand dollars per year.[2] In 2010, the citizens group Friends of Big Thunder Bay, announced on 1 March 2010, following the 2010 Winter Olympics, that they had sent a letter of intent to the provincial government where they stated that they wished to re-open the sports park.[3] They intend to not only reopen the hill, but also the associated sports area and provide year-round training of ski jumping, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, event hosting and hiking. Ski Jumping Canada has asked the province to establish a training facility for ski jumping in Ontario, stating that lack a facilities make it difficult for Canada to produce ski jumpers for the world scene, and that this among other things will result in poor performances in the Olympics.[2]

Events

Big Thunder was a regular site for the FIS Nordic Ski Jumping World Cup, and arranged a world cup round, typically with two jumps, every season from 1980 through 1991. The last World Cup tournament was held in 1994 as a Pre-World Championship tournament, which also for the first time saw Nordic combined be contested in the hill.

Contested between 9 and 19 March 1995, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is the hallmark of the venue, and the only major world championship to be contested in Northern Ontario. The Nordic combined individual took place on 9 March, and was won by Fred Børre Lundberg ahead of Jari Mantila. The following day saw Japan win ahead of Norway and Finland in the Nordic combined team event. In ski jumping, the individual normal hill event took place on 12 March, which saw a double Japanese victory with Takanobu Okabe winning ahead of Hiroya Saito.[4] The team event in the large hill on 16 March saw Finland win ahead of Germany and Japan.[5] In the large hill individual event on 18 March, Tommy Ingebrigtsen set a new hill record and won ahead of Andreas Goldberger.[6]

Results

The following is a list of all FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and FIS Nordic World Ski Championship tournaments held at Big Thunder, with the date, hill and top three finishing athletes or teams.

Date Hill Gold Silver Bronze Ref
01980-01-1919 January 1980 K-120 Kogler, ArminArmin Kogler Moullier, BernardBernard Moullier Groyer, AlfredAlfred Groyer [7]
01980-01-2020 January 1980 K-120 Kogler, ArminArmin Kogler Neuper, HubertHubert Neuper Innauer, ToniToni Innauer [8]
01981-02-2121 February 1981 K-90 Ulaga, PrimozPrimoz Ulaga Sætre, JohanJohan Sætre Collins, SteveSteve Collins [9]
01981-02-2222 February 1981 K-120 Broman, JohnJohn Broman Mobekk, IvarIvar Mobekk Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder [10]
01982-01-2323 January 1982 K-90 Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau Rigoni, MassimoMassimo Rigoni Vettori, ErnstErnst Vettori [11]
01982-01-2424 January 1982 K-120 Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau Rigoni, MassimoMassimo Rigoni Neuper, HubertHubert Neuper [12]
01983-01-2222 January 1983 K-90 Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau Hansson, OlavOlav Hansson Kokkonen, PenttiPentti Kokkonen [13]
01983-01-2323 January 1983 K-120 Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau Hansson, OlavOlav Hansson [14]
01983-12-1010 December 1983 K-90 Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Opaas, VegardVegard Opaas [15]
01983-12-1111 December 1983 K-120 Opaas, VegardVegard Opaas Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Bulau, HorstHorst Bulau [16]
01984-12-088 December 1984 K-90 Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder Kokkonen, PenttiPentti Kokkonen Vettori, ErnstErnst Vettori [17]
01984-12-099 December 1984 K-120 Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder Puikkonen, JariJari Puikkonen Vettori, ErnstErnst Vettori [18]
01985-12-077 December 1985 K-90 Ulaga, PrimozPrimoz Ulaga Opaas, VegardVegard Opaas Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen [19]
01985-12-088 December 1985 K-120 Ulaga, PrimozPrimoz Ulaga Neuländtner, FranzFranz Neuländtner Vettori, ErnstErnst Vettori [20]
01986-12-066 December 1986 K-90 Weißflog, JensJens Weißflog Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Kalso, JukkaJukka Kalso [21]
01986-12-077 December 1986 K-120 Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Klauser, ThomasThomas Klauser Opaas, VegardVegard Opaas [22]
01987-12-055 December 1987 K-90 Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Ploc, PavelPavel Ploc Vettori, ErnstErnst Vettori [23]
01987-12-066 December 1987 K-120 Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen Klauser, ThomasThomas Klauser Weißflog, JensJens Weißflog [24]
01988-12-033 December 1988 K-90 Thoma, DieterDieter Thoma Laakonen, RistoRisto Laakonen Nykaenen, MattiMatti Nykaenen [25]
01988-12-044 December 1988 K-120 Laakonen, RistoRisto Laakonen Johnsen, ErikErik Johnsen Thoma, DieterDieter Thoma [26]
01989-12-033 December 1989 K-90 Thoma, DieterDieter Thoma Kuttin, HeinzHeinz Kuttin Nikkola, Ari-PekkaAri-Pekka Nikkola [27]
01989-12-044 December 1989 K-120 Laakonen, RistoRisto Laakonen Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder Kuttin, HeinzHeinz Kuttin [28]
01990-12-088 December 1990 K-90 Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder Thoma, DieterDieter Thoma Petek, FranciFranci Petek [29]
01990-12-099 December 1990 K-120 Felder, AndreasAndreas Felder Petek, FranciFranci Petek Nikkola, Ari-PekkaAri-Pekka Nikkola [30]
01991-12-011 December 1991 K-90 Nieminen, ToniToni Nieminen Nikkola, Ari-PekkaAri-Pekka Nikkola Horngacher, StefanStefan Horngacher [31]
01991-12-022 December 1991 K-120 Vettgori, ErnstErnst Vettgori Holland, MikeMike Holland Zünd, StephanStephan Zünd [32]
01994-03-2525 March 1994 K-120 Germany Norway Japan [33]
01994-03-2626 March 1994 K-90 Siegmund, GerdGerd Siegmund Goldberger, AndreasAndreas Goldberger Recon, RobertoRoberto Recon [34]
01994-03-2727 March 1994 K-90 Weißflog, JensJens Weißflog Okabe, TakanobuTakanobu Okabe Bredesen, EspenEspen Bredesen [35]
01995-03-1212 March 1995 K-90 Okabe, TakanobuTakanobu Okabe Saito, HiroyaHiroya Saito Laitinen, MikaMika Laitinen [4]
01995-03-1616 March 1995 K-120 Finland Germany Japan [5]
01995-03-1818 March 1995 K-120 Ingebrigtsen, TommyTommy Ingebrigtsen Goldberger, AndreasAndreas Goldberger Weißflog, JensJens Weißflog [6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Marion, John-Paul. "Big Thunder frozen in time". Superior Outdoors: 26–30. http://www.superioroutdoors.ca/Winter%20_09_digital_mag/index.html. Retrieved 21 February 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Dunick, Leith (8 February 2010). "Big chance for Big Thunder". Thunder Bay News. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgdXb7eJ. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  3. ^ Northern Ontario Business staff (4 March 2010). "Citizens group wants Thunder Bay ski jump venue re-opened". Northern Ontario Business. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgdC5McX. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  4. ^ a b International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgW7OZyZ. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  5. ^ a b International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgWwjlXA. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  6. ^ a b International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgWzvqpw. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  7. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgXXiT6u. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  8. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgXTKc6B. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  9. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgXfAmFd. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  10. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgXqod4i. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  11. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYJ6tQi. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  12. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYLFI1u. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  13. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYY9JY5. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  14. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYcbkzB. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  15. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYns4Ex. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  16. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgYqOjNj. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  17. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgZ7oe3W. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  18. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgZAO9zh. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  19. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wga5TDAC. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  20. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wga81OQD. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  21. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgaQEYf0. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  22. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgaVHgjl. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  23. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgaefTSO. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  24. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgahDG1H. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  25. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgb3olRC. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  26. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgb6yHcP. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  27. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgbGqj6w. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  28. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgbK66m8. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  29. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgbR4Xl0. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  30. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgbTinDl. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  31. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgbk2Sr3. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  32. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgblTvBJ. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  33. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgc1ibgW. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  34. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgc7ulgq. Retrieved 22 February 2011. 
  35. ^ International Ski Federation. "Results". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wgcAQjPn. Retrieved 22 February 2011.