Dave Krall CFII said:
I've never jumped anywhere near those distances but was wondering on a bet, how much money I'd accept to do just one jump, no practice and I get paid even if (yeah, IF) I crash as long as the takeoff is made at full speed starting at the top, etc. Would $10K sound reasonable?
How much would others take -$20K -less? Think you could land it?
I might have a better chance than most on this board - I grew up down the road from the Blackhawk Ski Club, home to four ski jumps and plenty of competitions. They are a training site, used to have Olympic trials there but I'm not sure if they do any more. Usually one big competition in the winter and one on the plastic mats in the spring.
The four jumps are 10m, 20m, 40m, and 60m. I've stood at the top of all four and been off the 10m several times and the 20m once on regular downhill skis. Unfortunately, while I really wanted to get into ski jumping when I was younger, my parents wouldn't pay for the equipment, probably 'cuz my former-emergency-room-nurse mother was always sure I was gonna kill myself every time I left the house.
I was a member of the Ski Club for several years, and skied there about 4 times per week during the winter. One of their runs is just on the other side of the trees from the landing hill and parallels it; the jumpers used to use the rope tow there to avoid the first 2/3 of the stairs.
From watching the competitions and talking with the jumpers over the years, I don't think it's super-dangerous. You can't tense up if you wipe out and you do need to at least make the landing hill, though! I saw a guy almost bite it on the 60m jump, hit a melted spot near the end of the jump. I've never heard a guy scream like that! The end of the 60m jump is about 15 feet in the air and set back from the landing hill, so you need a good solid 20 yards of airtime or it's gonna hurt pretty bad.
I've also seen a guy totally wipe out *on the jump* but it was the 40m jump which is only about 4 feet off the ground and right next to the landing hill. Completely uninjured, but watching him go flailing down the landing hill was an interesting sight!
How much to do a 90m jump without practice? $10 billion. Give me a week, full-time, and plenty of runs down the smaller jumps first, and I'd do it for a million. Give me two months and I'll do it for a thousand or two... Or maybe just the cost of the equipment.
