McSorley Hill

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McSorley Hill
Bush Street Ski Jump
Location Red Wing, Minnesota, US
Coordinates 44°33′38″N92°31′19″W / 44.56056°N 92.52194°W / 44.56056; -92.52194
Opened8 February 1887
Size
K–point K30
Hill record 31.4 m (103 ft)
Flag of Norway.svg Torjus Hemmestveit
(15 January 1893)

McSorley Hill (also: Bush Street Ski Jump) was a K30 ski jumping hill located in Red Wing, Minnesota, United States, opened in 1887.

Contents

History

On 8 February 1887, a ski jumping hill owned by the Aurora Ski Club opened with a ski jumping competition [1] often cited as first ever on US soil. [2] Mikkjel Hemmestveit set the first ever American record at 37 feet (11.3 metres).

Two official world records in ski jumping were set on this hill. In 1891 Mikkjel Hemmestveit set a record at 102 feet (31.1 metres) and two years later was improved by Torjus Hemmestveit to 102.5 feet (31.4 metres). [3] [4]

On 17 February 1894, Torjus Hemmestveit made a world record distance jump at 120 feet (36.6 metres), but he fell and it didn't count as a record. [5] [6] [7]

Ski jumping world records

No.DateNameCountryMetresFeet
#69 March 1891   Mikkjel Hemmestveit Norge-Unionsflagg-1844.svg  Norway 31.1102
#715 January 1893   Torjus Hemmestveit Norge-Unionsflagg-1844.svg  Norway 31.4103
F17 February 1894   Torjus Hemmestveit Norge-Unionsflagg-1844.svg  Norway 36.6120

  Not recognized! Crash at world record distance.

References

  1. The Ski Tournament St Paul Daily Globe, 1887-02-09
  2. Johnson, Frederick L. (2003) Sky Crashers: A History of the Aurora Ski Club Red Wing: Goodhue County Historical Society Press ISBN 9780961719753
  3. "On Monday, Hemmestveit broke world record at 102 feet (column 1)". Little Falls Transcript. 13 March 1891.
  4. "A remarkable Feet (page 3, column 5)". Public Ledger. 16 January 1893.
  5. "A jump of 120 feet (page 2, column 6)". The Weekly Register. 21 February 1894.
  6. "page 5". Nordisk Tidende. 23 February 1894.
  7. "page 100" (in Norwegian). Norsk idrætsblad. 21 March 1894.