Toronto

Thorncliffe Ski Jump

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Thorncliffe Ski Jump:

K-Point:	35 m
Hill record:	39.6 m (130 ft) (Stein Sem , 1941)
Tower height:	24.4 m
Landing angle:	35°

Further jumps:	no
Plastic matting:	no
Spectator capacity:	25,000
Year of construction:	1934
Conversions:	1934-1935
Operating until:	1941
Status:	destroyed
Ski club:	Toronto Ski Club
Coordinates:	43.712035, -79.341276 ✔

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History:

During 1930s ski jumping gained high popularity in southern Ontario and a lot of new ski jumps were built. Toronto Ski Club didn’t want to lag behind other clubs and thus also built their own ski jump at Don Valley in Thorncliffe in January 1934. The location is near current Ontario Science Centre, but at the time it was a part of Leaside, which was a separate town. The almost 20-meter-high wooden inrun tower cost $2,500 and was planned to allow jumps up to 150-160 feet (~45-49 meters). Due to bad weather, 100 tons of ice were transported to hill from ice rink at Varisty Stadium to prepare the hill for the inaugural competition, the provincial ski championships on February 10, 1934. The event was a big success - it was attended by more than 10 000 spectators! The main competition was won by Jack Landry from Ottawa who jumped twice more than 120 feet (~36,5 meters), followed by only 14-year old Punch Bott from Montreal who jumped 115 feet twice (~35 meters). One week later, there was got another competition, the city championship won by Celius Skavaas, followed by Ross Wilson. It was probably last event on this first Thorncliffe Ski Jump, since in August 1934 the hill collapsed due to heavy winds during a storm.
Thanks to the money earned from the events hosted in February 1934, Toronto Ski Club managed to immediately reconstruct the ski jumping hill. The new, more solid inrun structure was even 15 feet taller and was supposed to allow even longer jumps. Also, a loudspeaker system was installed and place for spectators was expanded from 10,000 to 25,000 people. On February 5, 1934, the ski jumping hill was re-inaugurated. Even summer ski jumping was considered by club activists, but only some unsuccessful tests could be done. Since insufficient technology was used, a local ski jumper who tried to jump there in October 1934 achieved only a speed of 30 mph, whereas during winter jumpers were running at around 75 mph.
Unfortunately, ski jumping started to lose its popularity during next years. The last event at Thorncliffe was hosted in February 1941, a charity competition organized by the Canadian Amateur Ski Association and the Norwegian Air Force (Norwegians had their trainings and exercises in Toronto during II World War). The competition was even attended by former Olympian Colonel Ole Reistad. Stein Sem jumped 130 and 125 feet and won that event. Shortly later the ski jump was dismantled and this sport disappeared from Toronto.

	1941:	39.6 m	(130 ft) Stein Sem
	1934-02-10:	36.6 m	(120 ft) Jack Landry

Sa.	1934-02-17	:		K35	1. Celius Skavaas
Sa.	1934-02-10	:		K35	1. Jack Landry

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Toronto

Thorncliffe Ski Jump

Data | History | Hill records | Competitions | Map | Photo gallery | Comments

Thorncliffe Ski Jump:

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