MICHAEL HOLLAND
Ford Sayre Ski CLub
Norwich, VT
Full Circle
For decades, I aspired to vacation in beautiful Norway with my family, to spend time with our former U.S. coach, Erling Rimseslatten, and to see several former Norwegian jumpers with whom I have maintained contact.
Last Spring, I reached out to former jumper Olav Hansson and explained that everyone in my family was healthy and happy and the timing was right for a trip to Norway in July. Olav promptly reserved a private dining room at a restaurant on a pier in the Oslo Fjord (Aker Brygge) in the center of Oslo.
Eight Norwegian jumpers (some with wives), coach Erling, a former Director of the Norwegian Ski Federation and my family had a fabulous evening catching up.
Heidi, my wife, commented, “When you guys were young, I don’t imagine you realized how meaningful your ski jumping experiences were. It was great to see the effort everyone made to join your gathering. Many had tears of appreciation for the opportunity to reconnect.”
During our dinner in Oslo, Olav Hansson and Harald Brendeford stood up and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to reunite. I introduced my family and shared a few memories from our earlier time together.
For years, I have explained to my family how fond I am of my Norwegian friends and of Norwegian people in general. The rest of the world could learn a lot from Norwegian culture. All the Norwegians I know are hardworking, fit, healthy, spend a lot of time outdoors, are extremely friendly and humble.
Olav Hansson – Olav spent a couple of years at the University of Utah where he competed as a jumper in the NCAAs before returning to Norway where he quickly made the Norwegian National Team. Olav’s team won gold in the Oslo World Championships in ’82 where he also won a silver medal in the individual large hill event. I recall having dinner with Olav in Vikersund in 2013 where Dennis McGrane, Erling Rimeslåtten and I traveled to watch the World Ski Flying Championships. Reflecting on his career, Olav expressed frustration having finished second countless times behind the great Matti Nykänen.
Dag Holmen-Jensen – Dag had very impressive international results with the Norwegian team from 1979 to 1983 and retired the year before my first winter with the U.S. Team. Among his numerous top 10 results at the Four Hills Tournament and ski flying competitions, Dag won a World Cup competition on the Large Hill in Planica in 1981. It was in this event that Jari Puikkonen from Finland had his infamous jump where he outjumped the landing hill, crashed and badly injured his knee. I had never seen this jump until now (link in previous sentence) but I remember Nils Stolzlechner telling me about it in the 80s.
Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl (OGF) – Ole Gunnar was an incredible sky flyer. He was World Ski Flying Champion in Oberstdorf in 1988, won three ski flying World Cups, one K90 World Cup, and was fourth in the overall World Cup in ‘88/’89. OGF lives in Vikersund, Norway where he is involved administratively with the ski flying venue, with a soccer club and works in a bank. After a few days in and around Oslo, we traveled to Vikersund where OGF welcomed us at the ski flying hill, provided fresh waffles, venue tickets and joined us in ziplining over the World’s largest ski jump.
Harald Brendeford – I remember interacting with Harald every time we came to Oslo. He was always friendly and supportive and remains a good friend of Erling Rimeslåtten’s to this day. Harald was Director of personnel in the chemical/pharmaceutical company, Hoechst. He was a club coach in Oslo, the first leader of the ski jumping committee for youth and development from roughly 1977 – 1980 and member of Norwegian jumping committee. He was appointed Leader of the jumping committee and member of BOD of the Norwegian Ski Federation from1980-83. Harald was heavily involved in ski jumping development in the Oslo area through the 80s and 90s.
Vegard Opaas – During his time with the Norwegian Team from ’81 to ’90, Vegard won seven World Cups, was second in the Four Hills Tournament and won the overall World Cup in ’86 -’87. See this video of Vegard jumping 191 meters (classical style) in Planica. Note Vegard’s skis wandering in the radius of the inrun – no track setting equipment in 1987!
Erik Johnson – Erik won the silver medal behind Matti Nykanen on the large hill in the Calgary Olympics. I congratulated Erik for performing so well in what were, for me, impossible conditions. Most of the time in Calgary there were howling tailwinds. In addition, it was so cold that the inrun tracks were absurdly grabby and slow. It felt like you could run down the inrun faster than skiing. Neither of these conditions agreed with my technique. I was frustrated with the conditions in Calgary and was in complete awe of Matti Nykänen’s ability to perform. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Finnish team had developed a secret form of wax that gave their athletes a fast, free feeling on the inrun (Nykänen won both individual events and the team competition in Calgary). Throughout the rest of my career, I realized this wasn’t the case and that Matti Nykänen simply was incredibly good!
Ole Bremseth – Earlier that day, before gathering at the restaurant in Oslo, my family toured Oslo’s famous Holmenkollen ski jump. Near the takeoff, I noticed a list of hill record holders. That night, I explained, “Ole, I noticed your name on the list of Holmenkollen hill record holders!” Ole replied, “Yeah, I held the hill record for about five minutes.” I responded, “That was very much like my World Record in Planica. I broke Matti Nykänen’s World Record and then he broke mine, about 30-minutes later.” Ole won 6 World Cups during his time with the Norwegian team from ’79 to ’86. He won a bronze medal on the Normal Hill in the ’82 WM in Oslo and gold in the team event that year.
Erling Rimeslatten- “Erling, you changed my life”, I explained during our dinner in Oslo. The coaching trio of Erling, Greg Windsperger & Rex Bell in the early 80s was highly effective. Team dynamics were just plain great. Everyone encouraged and supported each other and many jumpers on the team scored World Cup points. Erling received a self-designed Masters degree in ski jumping and worked as the assistant coach of the Norwegian National Team before coming to the U.S. Not only did Erling bring an enormous wealth of knowledge of technique and physical training but he was incredibly passionate about, and dedicated to, helping his athletes improve. Not only was Erling an amazing coach, but he was/is a close friend with a great sense of humor and entertained us through all the hard training.
Jon Eilert Bogseth– I first encountered Jon Eilert Bøgseth competing in Westby, Wisconsin in ‘81or ’82 with his teammate Ivar Mobekk. In the Spring of ’82 or ’83, Mark Konopacke, Matt Petri, Jim Grahek, Scott Smith, Chris Hastings and I traveled to Finland with coach Peter Mikkelson for several late season, international competitions. Jon Eilert also competed in these events and, afterward, invited us to compete in a few more Spring competitions in Norway, while using his family farm as a home base. Matt Petri and I accepted. While I only vaguely remember these competitions, I clearly recall Jon Eilert’s impressive ability to drink a beer while standing on his head (something we witnessed several times on this “Spring Drinking Tour”). Not only was Jon Eilert a talented jumper (World Cup tour ’80-’83 with 2 or 3 podiums) but he’s extremely gregarious and entertaining with a great sense of humor. I’ve stayed in touch with Jon Eilert for over 40 years.
Per Bergerud – Per also competed in the Spring Drinking Tour in ’82 or ’83. When it was over, he drove me to the airport in Oslo to fly home. Per had a very long and impressive career from ’77 to ’85. Per was World Champion on the Large Hill in Innsbruck, Austria in ’85. Shortly after his win, he explained to me that the day before the competition he spoke with members of the Austrian team and said, “Morgen, Gewinne Ich.” The Austrian jumpers replied, “Nein”. Per responded, “Ja, es muss zein.” And, so it was.
Following our reunion in Oslo, we spent two nights in beautiful Hvaler, Norway with another good Norwegian friend, and Wharton classmate, Peter Gjessing. Hvaler (Norwegian for “whales”) is a collection of glacier-scraped islands in the Oslo Fjord, 90-minutes South of Oslo. From a distance, many of the rounded rock-covered islands look like the backs of whales. Hvaler is stunning and we highly recommend these islands to anyone visiting Norway in the summer.
After Hvaler, we drove our rental van onto a ferry, crossed the Oslo Fjord and drove to Vikersund to meet Ole Gunnar and Erling and to consider ziplining down the ski flying hill.
At Erling & Annbjørg’s stunning farmhouse with a huge view in Ål, Norway.
Around midday in Flåm, our family rented mountain bikes and boarded the Flåm Railway – a train that runs from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station. Kono and Victoria rented ebikes, road up the same valley and ziplined down (with their bikes!). Again, unplanned, Kono, Victoria and our family conicidentally met at the bottom of their zipline.
family for dinner in Denver. It was so great to see these guys!
Thank you, Jeff Hastings, for coming to our home when I was 10 years, bringing a pair of ski jumping skis and suggesting that I try the sport!
Thank you Norwegian, and U.S., friends in (and not in) this story. I feel extremely fortunate for the relationships developed through our beautiful sport.
