Thenamemaynotregisterwithalllong-timePacificNorth-west alpine skiers, but anyone who has been close to a ski jump-ing hill is likely to recognize “Ragnar Ulland” and the Kongsberg jumping tradition. Ragnar, now a Mt. Vernon, Wash., resident, was born into an extended family and community of ski jumpers in Kongsberg, Norway, a silvermining town, 55miles southwest ofOslo. Inthe 1930s, Kongsberg was a place where ski jumping was a mainstay activity inwinter and a home for jump-ers who topped world and Olympic competition from1928 through 1948. During that period, three of the four Olympicgoldandsilvermed-als awarded to winners of the ski jumping events went toKongsberg athletes. Often,three members of a four-man ski jumping team representingNor-way were from Kongsberg. The guys with the red sweaters and white K’s on their chest were notorious throughout Europe and the United States in the 1930s and ‘40s. A list of the best-known Kongsberg jumpers of the era reads like a who’s-who of champions. They include Birger, Sigmund, and Asbjorn Ruud; Roy and Strand Mikkelsen; Hjalmar Hvam; Petter Hugsted; Arnhold Kongsberg; NordalKahldal;TomMobraaten;HenrySodvedt;andOlav,Sigurd,andReidar Ulland. The latter was Ragnar’s father.

The Ruuds led the way The Ruud brothers, the most well-known of the Kongs-berggroup,dominated internationalski jumpingforNorwayinthe 1930s, with Birger winning back-to-back gold medals in ski jumpinginthe1932and1936WinterOlympics.ThethreeRuudbrotherswontheWorldChampionshipsfivetimesbetweenthem.Sigmund won the silver medal in the 1928 St. MoritzWinterGamesandAsbjornwongoldatthe1938FISNordicWorldSkiChampionships and the 1946 Holmenkollen competition. TheMikkelsenbrotherscontributedgreatlytodevelopmentoftheskisportinNorthAmerica.Strandwonthe1929U.S.Na-tional Championships and younger brother Roy was a member of the1932and1936U.S.Olympicjumpingteams. HjalmarHvam grew up skiing inKongsberg and came toPortland,Ore., in 1927. Five years later, hewon the firstU.S.

NordiccombinedchampionshipatLakeTahoe,Calif.,bytakingfirstinClassBjumpingandthe18-kilometercross-countryrace.HewonseveralNorthwestalpineandNordiceventsinthe1930sand‘40sandalsoiswidelyknownforinventinganearlyalpineski binding that could release upon impact. Petter Hugsted won the junior Holmenkollen championship in1940andwentontowinagoldmedalforNorwayinthe1948WinterOlympicGames.ToBritishColumbiacamethetrioofNordalKaldal,HenrySodvedt,andTommyMobraaten,wholeftKongsbergforminingand lumber town jobs in western Canada during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Known as the “three musketeers of ski jump-ing,”thesethreeNorwegiansnotonlydominatedthetopplacings

in Northwest ski jump-ingevents,buttheyalsohelped organize, teach, and judge skiing compe-titions throughout Brit-ish Columbia and other parts of Canada. In 1932, KaldahlwonmorethanfiveClassA jumping tournaments in the Northwest, and,the next year, Mobraaten followed, winning most of the same champion-ship events. Mobraatenrepresented the Cana-

dianOlympicteamin1936and1948,takingarespectable14thplaceinthe1936Olympicjumpingcompetition.SodvedtwasachampioninthecombinedNordicevents;wasactiveintheCa-nadianAmateurSkiAssociation,servingasavice-president;andbecame a renowned international ski jumping judge.

Seven Ulland brothers competed TheUlland familyhad sevenbrotherswhogrewup jump-ing in Kongsberg. Sigurd came to the U.S. in 1928 and set hill jumpingrecordsatLakePlacidandinthewestatMountShasta.In1938,hewontheU.S.SkiJumpingChampionshipsinBrattle-boro, Vt. In 1930, Sigurd’s younger brother, Olav, took third in theHolmenkollen junior championships.Hemovedon tocoach inFrance,wherehecapturedthe1935Frenchfour-waycombinedchampionships.Inthesameyear,OlavmadejumpinghistoryatPontediLegno, Italy,wherehe soared103.5meters (339 feet)tobecomethefirstski jumperever tobreakthe100-meterbar-rier.OneyearafterOlavcoachedtheItalianjumpingteamatthe

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RAGNAR ULLAND EXTENDED A GREAT KONGSBERG JUMPING TRADITION

Ragnar’s superior form

Ragnar Ulland as a young adult

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RAGNAR ULLAND EXTENDED A GREAT KONGSBERG JUMPING TRADITION Continued from Page 1

Continued on Page 3

1936OlympicsatGarmisch-Partenkirchen,Germany,theSeattleSkiClubarrangedtohavehimcometoSeattletocoachaspiring

young ski jumpers. Deciding to stay in the U.S.,

OlavwonseveralClassAjump-ingeventsinthePacificNorth-west,includingthePNSAcham-pionships in 1939. Like manyjumpers of his time, Olav alsowas an accomplished alpine skier and he took fifth in theMountRainierSilverSkis raceof 1938. After years of teach-ing, he became coach of the 1956 U.S. Olympic ski jump-ing team, a role he continued for his adopted country through

the1958WorldChampionshipsinLahti,Finland.In1960,hewasnamedchiefofcompetitionforjumpingeventsattheSquawVal-leyOlympicGames.OlavisalsowidelyknownforhisroleintheOsborn&Ullandsportinggoodsstores,adominantSeattleareaskibusinessfrom1941through1995. Olav’s younger brother Reidar had beenjumpingsuccessfullyinNorway,and,withOlav’sencouragement, decided to join him in Seattle in 1947.Reidarimmediatelyfoundhimselfatopfin-isherinseveraloftheskijumpingtournamentsofthat era, and, four years later, his son Ragnar, age 14, came to Seattle to stay.

Ragnar continues the legacy Ragnar began ski jumping at age five inKongsberg.Within threeyears,he started travel-ing to compete, and, at the time, he was said to havebeenjumpingfrom110to120feetincompe-titions.HisfirstskiseasonintheNorthwestwashighlyacclaimed for the 14-year old Ulland prodigy. He consistentlyplaced in the topfive inClassB re-gionaljumpingtournaments.Atthe1952NationalJunior Ski Jumping Tournament at Lake Tahoe,Ragnar took third and earned a prize for the most stylish leap of theday,a127-footeffort. Ragnar was said to get his amazing distances because he “held hisfloat.”Hehadlearnedthetechniqueofcarryingskishigheronthefloat, keeping the air pressure under the blades all theway,leaning forward, and then timing his landing to get the last yard, foot,andinch.Indeed, theKongsbergjumpers,startingwithhisUncleSigurd,hadrefinedanewstyleofleaningforward,bendingat the hips, and keeping the ski tips high on the descent. During the 1952-53 season,Ragnar notchedfivefirst-placefinishes,andthenextyear,atage16,hebeganjumpinginClassAevents--consistentlytakingsecondintournaments,withonefirstplacetitlewherehebeathislegendaryUncleOlav.TheNationalJuniorJumpingChampionshipsheldinDuluth,Minn.,inFebru-ary1954werenoexception.Heplacedsecond,withlongerjumpsthanthelocalyouth,JerryLewis,whostillwontheeventbasedonthe judges’ assignment of style points. In the 1954-55 season, Ragnar participated in a two-weektraining camp at Steamboat Springs under renowned coach Gordy

Wren.Withthreejumpsover230feet,hetookseventhinClassAeventsatHowelsenHillinSteamboat.Onemonthlater,RagnarwontheNationalJuniorSkiJumpingChampionshipsatLeav-enworth and tied the hill record with a standing leap of 284 feet. Withthatwin,hewasinvitedwith40otherjumperstothetry-outsfortheU.S.OlympicskijumpingteaminIronMountain,Mich.,wherehetookfourthplace,landinghimacovetedspotonthe U.S. team.

Olympic hopes dashedGoingintotheyearofthe1956WinterOlympicstobeheldinCortina,Italy,Ragnarwasage18,asenioratSeattle’sRooseveltHigh School, and, at that time, the youngest member of a U.S. skijumpingteamtocompeteintheOlympics. Before heading for Europe to compete, the jumping team went toLakePlacid,N.Y.,fortraining.Theintensitytherewashigh,asnoAmericansince1924hadplacedbetterthanfifthinOlym-pic ski jumping. Ragnar’s Uncle Olav, as coach of the team,knew European judges were tough on the landing and worked with the jumpers on their style. With the six jumpers pushing hard based on high hopes of achievement,mishapsoccurred.Duringpracticejumps,Ragnar

took a terrible spill and badly hurt his lower back. He was one of six U.S. winter athletes hurt in one day in Cortina. While disappointed andrecoveringfrominjuries,Ragnarcamebackto the PacificNorthwest and still managed tocompete in the local Kongsberger Ski Club an-nualevent,placing2nd.Withthe1956-57season,tryoutsloomedtoselect the next U.S. team to participate in the F.I.S.WorldChampionshipsscheduledforLa-hti,Finland,in1958.Ragnar,now19,stillwasrecoveringfromhisinjuries,and,whilehehad

severaltop10finishes,hefinished17thinthe1957NationalSkiJumpingChampionshipsinBerlin,N.H. InJanuary1958,heparticipatedatIshpeming,Mich.,inthefinaltryoutsforthe1958U.S.team.OnthefamedSuicideHill,herepeatedhis17thplacefinishfromNationalstheyearbefore.Thateffort,alongwithhispreviousrecord,wasenoughforhim

Olav Ulland in his Kongsberger sweater

Sigmund Ruud (left)wascelebrated in 1940s advertising

Ragnar soaring at Leavenworth

toqualifytoserveasanalternatefortheteamgoingtoLahtiinMarch1958. Laterin1958,heralliedandtook3rdinthePNSAClassAchampionshipsatLeavenworth,Wash.,withalongjumpof283feet,onefootshyofhisprevioushillrecord.LocalskisportleaderandjudgePeterHostmarkwasquotedinthecommunity’snews-papersayingthat“thekid’sformwasbeautiful,betterthanI’veseen himdisplay before. I’ve never seen such uniformly goodjumpinginaNorthwestmeet.”Ragnarwassaidtohavemasteredthe Finnish Torpedo style at this point in his career.

Ragnar continues to soar IntheMt.HoodareainMarch1958,hesoared224feettosetaMultorporHilljumpingrecordandtookfirstintheClassAWesternOpenJumpingmeet. Atage21,goingintothe1958-59season,theyoungUllandwas still in the running for the next U.S. Ski Team looking ahead tothe1960WinterOlympicGamestobeheldatSquawValley.HehadseveralfirstandsecondplacefinishesattournamentsintheNorthwestbut,unfortunately,intheNationalChampionshipsheldatLeavenworth,hetook14th.Whilehedidnotquitemakethe cut for the 1960 U.S. Team, Ragnar was able to attend the OlympicGamesandserveasatrialjumpertotesthillconditionspriortotheofficialcompetitions.

Skiing remains an important way of life Ragnar continued to jump through the 1960s, often securing a top-10finish, but, by then,hewasmarried andhad ayoungfamily, sohe entered the sportinggoodsbusinesswithOsbornandUllandonboththewholesaleandretailsides.In1964,he

was named manag-erofO&U’snorthSeattle store, and he continued to succeed in the ski business for many years.

Now retired Today, still in the Pacific Northwest,Ragnar is retired in Mt. Vernon, where he looks back fa-vorably on his skijumping days. He makes annual trips toNorway to visithis Kongsberg rel-atives and friends,to participate in cross-country ski-ing, and to remi-nisce about being lucky enough to re-call the great era of Kongsberg jump-ers. And his exist-ing Multorpor ski hill record of 224 feet still stands.

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1.

GET READY . . .FOR THE 2020 SUN VALLEY REUNION Winter is coming and now it is time to mark your calendar for our37thannualSunValleyReunion,setforJan.18-25,2020.WehavepostedtheSunValleyroomreservationformonourwebsite–www.ancientskiers.com/Theformgivesinformationonbook-ingroomsandprovidesinformationonliftpackagerates. Liftratesfora5-of-7-daypassonBaldywillbe$315.Therenolongerisareservationcode,but, tosecureourspecialroomrates,makeyourreservationsdirectlywiththeSunValleyReser-vationOffice. OurSunValleyweekwillstartwithregistrationfrom3to6p.m.,Saturday,Jan.18,intheSunValleyInnContinentalRoom.Youwillgetyourpacketwithnametags,reunioneventschedule,andinformationaboutticketexchangeprivileges.Therealsowillbe a no-host bar for all to enjoywhile visitingwith otherAn-cients,andsign-upsheetswillbeavailablefortheweek’svariousactivities. Highlights will include the Monday Western dinner night, so besuretobringyourWesternwear.TherewillbeactivitieseachdayandinformationontheweekdayeventswillprovidedattheSaturday check-in. With this newsletter are two forms: “REGISTRATIONFORM”and“RETAINTHISCOPYFORYOURRECORDS.”Fillout the registration form, total theevent charges, and sendthe completed form with your check made out to and mailed to ANCIENTSKIERS,P.O.Box1295,SunValley,ID83353,post-marked no later than Dec. 6, 2019. Please: no email responses. Copy the information from the Registration Form onto the RetainThisCopyforYourRecordsformandbringittotheSat-urdayregistrationincaseanydiscrepanciesarise.You’llalsofindcopies of the forms at the Ancients’ website: www.ancientskiers.com/(Clickon“EVENTS”atthetopofthescreenandthenselect“SunValleytrip.”) Youwillbeabletopurchasediscountedliftticketsatthein-sideticketcounteratRiverRunLodge. Questions?CallMarlysGerberat(206)271-1575.

JUMPING TRADITION Continued from Page 2

Ragnar proudly holds old jumping ski

SKI AND SNOWBOARD MUSEUM NEWS The Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum is cele-bratingits4thAnniversaryPartyonSaturday,Nov.9,from1-3p.m.at themuseumonSnoqualmiePass.Themuseumis typi-cally open Thursday through Sunday afternoons and has become afixtureatthePass.Plansareunderwayforupdatedexhibitsandexpandedopenhours.Themuseumisalwayslookingforvolun-teers. For more information go to http://www.wsssm.org or call 425-434-0827.

SKI HISTORY WEEK Another great event being held at SunValley thisseason is theUSSki&SnowboardHall of FameInduction+SnowsportHistoryCelebration.Sched-uled forMarch25-28,2020, itwillbea joint cel-ebrationoftheInternationalSkiHistoryAssociationand the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. For more information go to: https://skihall.com/.

~Kirby Gilbert

~

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NewsletterKirby Gilbert - Writer and editorMike Dederer - Edits and writerTinaRieman-NewsletterDesign

Bill Price PresidentWayneJohnson TreasurerNitaBurks SecretaryWayneJohnson MembershipKirbyGilbert B.O.D.memberJoeHabenicht B.O.D.memberTyAnderson B.O.D.member

Membership & Roster ChairWayneJohnsonP.O.Box124

GigHarbor,WA98135soundrunner5@comcast.net

253-229-1888

Ancient Skiers Board of Directors

YOU’RE AN ANCIENT SKIER (WHO REALLY KNOWS SV’S EXHIBITION) IF YOU REMEMBER:… Hearing about – or actually seeing -- France’s Georgette Thi-oliére takingExhibition straight (reportedlyadjustingherglovesasshetookoff).… Realizing the truth of instructor Andy Hennig’s words in his classic 1948 Sun Valley Ski Guide: “Exhibition Run. This is a per-fectnameforit.Everyskierridingtheliftcanwatchandcriticizehis counterpart below.”TheveteranAncientSkier also is awarethat,overtheyears,theremayhavebeenalmostasmany“Wow”exclamationsas“Ouch”and“Awful.”… Riding up the Exhibition single chair early on a clear, frigid morning with fresh powder on the run and only one set of ski tracks visible.AndwrappedaroundyoutowardoffthecoldisoneoftheValley’swell-lined,heavycanvascapes.… Watching Austrian legend Karl Schranz take Exhibition’s few gates with apparent ease during the 1960 Harriman Cup downhill andthenhearinghefellandtookaDNFonLowerRiverRun.… Spotting Ernest Hemingway with a group of his friends enjoy-ingthesameracefromachoicevantagepointwellabovetheEx-hibition chairlift lower station.… Stopping for a mid-slope break on Exhibition, turning to see what’s going on up the hill, and realizing the top of the last tow-eringmogulyoucamearoundloomshighaboveyourhead,and,mostly, you’re just looking at a wall of snow.… Making your way up the Exhibition chair while Dick Barry-morefilmsasequenceforThePerformerswithmostofthemem-bers of the K2 Demonstration Team of Charlie McWilliams, Pat Bauman,JohnClendenin,BobGriswold,andJimStellingflyingovermogulsandthroughdeep,broken-uppowder.… Riding up the newer, enlarged Exhibition chairlift while Bobbie Burns, with poles on high, snakes his way at speed down the fall line.(Andrealizingthattodaythere’snolongeranExhibitionliftofanytype.Evenso,astringofgondolacabinsglidesoverthecrest.)

Exhibition Run — From the Sun Valley Ski Guide, 1948, compiled and written by Andy Hennig of the Sun Valley Ski School staff.

Photo by Sun Valley.~Mike Dederer

YoumayqualifyasanAncientSkierif youhavetoborrowglassestoreadthetrailmaps.

~Bob Cram