Nordic combined, ski jumpers entertain record crowds at Springer Tournee

Steamboat Springs' Arthur Tirone in first, Chicago's Anders Giese in second, and Park City's Root Roepke in third place at the Springer Tournee's nordic combined 90m/5km U20, men. Not pictured is Roepke's younger brother, Augie, in fourth place. Those four athletes will leave in two days for a two week U.S. Ski & Snowboard-sanctioned training camp in Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and Austria. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — The 25th anual Springer Tournee, hosted by the Park City Ski & Snowboard at the Utah Olympic Park, brought nordic combined and ski jumping olympians from across the country last week.

The event culminated in an inaugural target jump with live music, food trucks, big screen-scoring, a beer garden and athlete cash prizes.

Four-time nordic combined Olympian Taylor Fletcher told TownLift, “Nordic Combined USA is the newly formed nonprofit in which I’m honored and privileged to be a founding member. This fun, fantastic Springer Tournee is, in part, able to continue because people are kindly and generously donating to the specific online link which is facilitating the sport of nordic combined to continue in this country after this amazing sport-community lost all its funding… we are also still trying to convince the IOC to allow women to compete in the Olympics in nordic combined.”

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USA Nordic athletes were instrumental in putting on this successful event.

Billy Demong was a co-announcer for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard-sanctioned ‘Springer’ competition. He also attended a social gathering where Red Banjo Pizza hosted a Main Street Scavenger Hunt where Demong brought his Olympic gold and silver nordic combined medals for the ‘Springer’ athletes to try on. 

Nordic combined Olympians Ben Loomis and Stephen Schumann not only jumped and roller skied at the Soldier Hollow race, they got to mentor younger athletes in dry-land training at the Basin Rec. Field House as well as up on the hills. Other mentors were National Team members Sam Macuga, and Paige Jones.

Organizers for ‘Springer’ included Olympians Anders Johnson and Lindsey Van. Olympian Abby Ringquist spectated while ski jumping Olympian Sarah Hendrickson’s house was the site of a fundraiser for the aformentioned Nordic Combined USA.

While the usual objective of distance and subjective of style were the name-of-the-game Monday through Friday, Saturday’s just-for-fun target jump had athletes spinning a colorful wheel which dictated where they needed to land to advance to the next round.

It was hard to tell if the crowd or the athletes were giggling more from the unique formula opportunity. 13-year-olds like Liam Demong had just as good a chance to win as their ski jumper direct competitor-Olympians like Anna Hoffmann or Youth Olympic Games’ Josie Johnson.

Park City athletes who landed on the different podiums for sport-discipline, gender, and age classes were: Stephen Schumann, Taly Schnell, Liam Demong, Donovan Toly, Daisy Schmidt, Nicky Meyers, Root Roepke and Rudger Klug.

Full journalistic disclosure: This article’s author is related to subjects in its content. 

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