McSorley Hill

McSorley Hill
Bush Street Ski Jump
LocationRed Wing, Minnesota, US
Coordinates44°33′38″N 92°31′19″W / 44.56056°N 92.52194°W / 44.56056; -92.52194
Opened8 February 1887
Size
K–pointK30
Hill record31.4 m (103 ft)
Norway 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.

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. Date Name Country Metres Feet
#6 9 March 1891   Mikkjel Hemmestveit  Norway 31.1 102
#7 15 January 1893   Torjus Hemmestveit  Norway 31.4 103
F 17 February 1894   Torjus Hemmestveit  Norway 36.6 120

  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.