Before he immigrated to Berlin, New Hampshire, Adolph Olsen had been a top jumper in Norway. In 1918 he moved to Portland, Maine and found work as a machinist and carpenter. When the Portland Ski Club needed a new jump for the 1922 Carnival Olsen built it. Jumpers representing the Norseman Ski Club of Brooklyn (NY), the Nansen Ski Club from Berlin NH and the Portland Ski Club all came to compete on the new jump. A lack of snow was a problem but trucks and horse carts brought enough to cover the jump. The Portland Press Herald wrote, "Towering 50 feet above the crest of the hill the wooden structure takes on a dangerous aspect to the inexperienced, yet these hardy veterans of the waxed runners hurtle out into space with nary a qualm. Thousands of spectators thronged about the takeoff at the edge of the sharp declivity and the mass of humanity flanked either side of the path taken by the jumpers down the hill."
Adolph Olsen showed the crowd that he was more than just a carpenter. The Portland Press Herald reported, "The most sensational feature of the morning was Olsen's mid air loop the loop. Twice Mr. Olsen shot into the air and turned a perfect somersault but on neither attempt was he able to land properly."
At age 43 Olsen won the jumping for style competition but missed the longest standing jump when Bing Andersen (age 19) from Berlin jumped 70' 4" and beat him by 4 inches.
By 1924 ski jumping had proven to be very popular with spectators. Organizers of the Augusta Winter Carnival talked about replacing their elaborate windmill jump, which was good for spectators but not for jumpers, with a new one that would allow 100-foot jumps. In Portland 5,000 people came out to watch the ski jumpers. Adolph Olsen again narrowly missed the longest standing jump when he fell after a 92 ½ foot jump.
The Portland Winter Carnival gave Adolph Olsen an idea that would, in time, revolutionize the sport of skiing. Olsen knew how popular skiing was in other places and saw the growing popularity of the winter carnivals in Maine. He wrote, "The geographic and climatic conditions in Maine are as excellent as any in the world for skiing and winter sports."
Olsen thought the drawback to the carnivals was they only lasted one or two days. He envisioned a Winter Sports Park, essentially a permanent Winter Carnival, in downtown Portland. Olsen's plan was for the area around the Exposition Center, including a high school football and baseball field, to be fenced off with an admission charge to enter. He wrote, "There are a great many people who would go to watch ski jumping and participate in winter sports if they felt it was so desirable an occupation that it must be paid for."
By building the park in the city it would be within easy walking distance of a great many people. City streetcars would bring more people in from the outlying towns. Once people were in the Winter Sports Park they would be able to watch or take a ski lesson from a professional instructor in either jumping or cross-country. Also available would be ice-skating and a toboggan ride. There would be a heated central hall for those wishing rest or warmth or sandwiches and a hot drink. The jump was to be built on top of the Exposition Building itself. Jumpers would ski down the inrun, jump off the takeoff and then land on the rounded roof of the building. Snow would have been banked up to create the proper landing hill and transition. Olsen was sure jumpers would be able to go over l00 feet off this jump. The cost of the project was estimated to be as high as $10,000 and that was the stumbling block. Olsen argued that the money would easily be made back, not only on the exposition grounds but also more money would be made by the town and its merchants. He wrote, "This same arrangement has been carried out in the western states with great success. The winter sports have been sufficiently commercialized to make them a good deal more than self-supporting."
Olsen was right about the appeal of skiing and was right about his Winter Sports Park. It would be another decade before it would happen. When it did it the sport had shifted and downhill skiing had supplanted jumping as the heart of the sport. If Birger Olsen could see a modern ski area with everyone enjoying winter sport I am sure he would be pleased.
"Towering 50 feet above the crest of the hill the wooden structure takes on a dangerous aspect to the inexperienced, yet these hardy veterans of the waxed runners hurtle out into space with nary a qualm. Thousands of spectators thronged about the takeoff at the edge of the sharp declivity and the mass of humanity flanked either side of the path taken by the jumpers down the hill."
- Portland Press Herald, 1922
Hardy Veterans of the Waxed Runners Hurtle Into Space
By author/Maine ski historian: Glenn Parkinson
For more Maine Skiing history please select a title from the list below.
• Playing in the Great Snow Empire
• A hearty welcome is waiting for you in Fryeburg
• Hardy Veterans of the Waxed Runners Hurtle Into Space
• Rumford hosts the 1950 World Championships
