Work on reprofiling the landing hill on the Big Nansen Ski Jump is underway. When that work is finished, the Friends of the Big Nansen, a committee of the Nansen Ski Club, have plans to build one “high school” sized jumping hill and a smaller beginner hill on the same site before the end of summer.
Contractor Lee T. Corrigan of Gorham began work at the end of June clearing the big hill and over the next six weeks will reprofile the hill based on a design prepared by the country’s preeminent ski jump designer, Matt Gundry of CBS Squared Inc.
At last week’s Friends meeting, member Jay Poulin said the new landing hill will closely match the existing slope but will be smoother, providing a softer landing. Part of the work includes a concrete retaining wall, right below the jump take-off, to accommodate a false knoll to be built later.
While the work on the big hill is underway, the Friends will seek bids to restore an abandoned 40-meter hill and build a new 20-meter hill on the same site. The Friends hope to get the small hills done this summer right after the work on the big hill so they will be ready to use next year.
Recognizing that renovating the historic 80-meter jump will be a longer and more expensive project than originally thought, the Friends have shifted their primary focus to these small hills.
Getting the smaller jumps built this year will allow a high school-age jumping competition to take place there next year. The goal is to attract young jumpers to re-establish the sport on the site and to start a youth jumping program.
“Ski jumping is a strong part of the club’s legacy and creating our new “small” hills will attract youth and parents – locally and statewide – to experience this unique and wholesome activity. As these hills sit in the shadow of the Big Nansen ski jump, they will complement and provide a boost to the area economically as well as infusing significant community pride,” said Halvorson.
The committee successfully applied for a $40,000 Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation grant to do the small hill work. The grant requires a 20 percent match, which Treasurer Scott Halvorson said the Friends have in donations and in-kind contributions.
Poulin said Matt Gundry of CBS Squared was hired to do the design for the small hills and those drawings are done.
“We’ve got a good set of drawings done by a professional,” he said.
Joining the meeting by Zoom was Kennett High Ski Jumping Coach Chip Henry. Henry reviewed the plans for the small hills and is working with the group on a high school jumping event there next year.
The Friends continue to seek funding for the big jump.
The cost of the work of the landing hill work, including engineering, comes to over $300,000. The bulk of the funding comes from a $250,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant plus a match by the Friends and $35,000 appropriation by the state. But the money was not enough to cover all the work originally outlined and so the deflection system work was removed from the scope to be done at a later date.
The combination of required design features for safety and the spike in building materials because of COVID-19 has pushed up the cost of reinforcing the steel jump tower structure to accommodate the proposed renovations to over $500,000.
Halvorson said a $1 million grant proposal through U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s office turned out to require a one-on-one match, meaning the group would have to raise $500,000. He has also applied for a $20,000 Bank of America grant for the small hills, as the total cost will not be known until the bids are opened, and it is expected there will be unknown costs as well.
Poulin said he has had contact with a Canadian company possibly interested in the steel work on the jump at a competitive price.
Friends President Shawn Costello said a small group of the committee met last month with the Milan Community Forest Committee and received permission to use the access road to the ski jump. The access road is now part of the Milan Community Forest as is the land outside the state-owned ski jump property. Costello said the two groups discussed in the future linking the site to the Nansen Ski Club’s Nordic ski trail system at Milan Hill State Park.
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