Comments on: The Herminator Bids Auf Wiedersehen

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:40:32 +0000

@Tony Comstock: I made the mistake of clicking on the tragic Ulrike Maier video in the “Related” sidebar. Don’t think I’ll ever let my son go skiing. Maybe he can luge instead.

By: Tony Comstock

Tony Comstock — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:18:52 +0000

Remember this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYj9kIxAL_o&feature=related

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:11:09 +0000

@Gramsci: You nailed it. I remember being agog at how much pressure was on the Japanese ski jumpers–they led the newscasts every evening for weeks leading up to the actual competition. I hadn’t realized that Japan was such a big ski jumping nation.

BTW, everyone should attend a ski-jumping competition in person before they die. TV doesn’t give you a real sense of just how high those hills are, and just how far the folks go flying in the air. It’s just about the ballsiest sport ever.

By: Gramsci

Gramsci — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:50:32 +0000

I just remember “Happy” Harada weeping into the snow after his winning jump, exhausted from the pressure and relieved that he had not disgraced himself. Of course, here were the American announcers: “Look at Happy, he’s so happy!” Culture FAIL.

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:21:43 +0000

The slo-mo shot in the vid is crucial. At full-speed, it looked like he landed right on his neck. But a split second before impact, you can see how Maier did, indeed, manage to curl his neck in just the right manner. Not luck, I reckon, but skill.

Witnessing this in real time, though, I remember thinking it was the most spectacular sports crash I’d ever seen. I was in a crowd at the bottom of the hill, and everyone shrieked in unison at the violence of the fall. I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote above that I thought Maier had been killed.

I also saw a nasty luge accident while in Nagano. Still want to try that sport, tho.

By: captured shadow

captured shadow — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:50:20 +0000

The crash looks kind of bad, but the snow looks like the kind that would cushion your fall rather than break your leg. Two layers of snow fence had to hurt but he didn’t land on his neck and had a nice roll technique that I am sure he practiced. I could see how he would get away with only minor pain on that one.