Woopy Jumping - Get Real Big Air!

Woopy jumping can be thought of as a combination of gliding and skiing or snowboarding. It’s the latest and hottest crazy to hit the slopes and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should! Skiers or snowboarders wear an aerofoil wing that enables them to glide and jump much greater distances and at much higher speeds as they make their way down the slopes.

In 1995 Laurent de Kalbermatten started experimenting with various inflatable wing systems with the goal of finding the lightest and least cumbersome possible wing. De Kalbermatten and his test pilot Guy-Bertrand Jaquier started using the inflated wing to prolong ski and snowboard jumps - and thus Woopy Jumping was born!

The principle of Woopy Jump is quite simple. The system utilizes a delta-wing made out of high-quality nylon fabric. The pilot is suspended in a harness connected to a frame of aluminum and glass fiber which spans the entire wing. Two handles, attached to the frame, serve as controls to maneuver the system. Using the forward speed generated by moving down the slope, these crude but effective flight controls are all that’s needed to get you airborn, down the mountain and begging for more!

For more informationa and woopy jumping videos check out: www.woopyjumping.com

World Championship Dates

Thursday, May 29^th, 2008 will be the day the host venue of the 2013 World Championships is revealed. The announcement will be made in Cape Town, South Africa by the FIS council.

Alongside the announcement of the 2013 World Championships host, the FIS council will also unveil the venue for the 2012 FIS Ski Flying Championships. There are four places competing to play the position of host – Beaver Creek and Vail in the United States, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, Schladming in Austria and St. Moritz in Switzerland.

All the four above mentioned resorts have hosted World Championships in the past. The Winter Olympics have been hosted by St. Moritz and Cortina, and Schladming has played host to the Special Olympics.

In the United States, Beaver Creek and Vail have been undergoing renovation worth 2.5 million USD. They have also agreed to construct a new downhill course for ladies, if they are selected to be the host.

The 2009 World Championships will be hosted by Val d’Isère, and the Secretary General of FIS, Sarah Lewis, has been immensely happy with the progress the venue has been making. Lewis recently said, “I was very, very impressed by the presentation which was given to us by the World Championship organizers. The progress made these last six months is palpable. The success of the men’s World Cup downhill last February has obviously given confidence to the organizers.”

However, disagreements within the committee have caused skiers such as former ski champion, Jean-Claude Killy, to resign from her position. Val d’Isère has also faced its share of bad publicity, which it has been trying to brush off with promises of free access and travel for spectators, and environmentally-friendly transport.

So let us all hope for a jam-packed 2009 in Val d’Isère, and an equally entertaining 2013.

SOS Outreach

SOS Outreach, an organization devoted to promoting snow events among the underprivileged youth, has already started getting ready for next year’s event, despite Mt. Hood still being caught under 16 feet of snow! SOS Outreach has been establishing itself in Oregon and in the winter of 2007-2008, nearly 100 participants took part in various snowboarding events in Central Oregon.

SOS now plans to start a five-day ‘learn to ride’ program. This program offers professional skiing and snowboarding lessons, snow gear and all other necessary items. The program also wishes to promote values such as integrity, discipline, courage, wisdom etc. Students who complete the program are offered the choice of continuing with SOS for an additional four years. In order to do this, they must complete a ‘University’ program put forward by SOS.

SOS has been able to motivate underprivileged youth and host successful programs due to their carefully-chosen partnerships with local mountain resorts and youth agencies. In the 2007-2008 winter session, Mt. Hood Skibowl became the third resort, after Mr. Hood Meadows and Timberline, to donate lift tickets, equipment rentals, and snowboard instructors to SOS. Counselors and students from Portland Youth Builders, Mt. Scott Learning Centers, Reynolds Learning Academy and Janus Youth Programs, all showed active participation in the program.

Megan Barrett, a Mt. Scout Learning Center’s teacher, highlights the positive aspects of the SOS program- “SOS encourages my students to support one another, and also teaches them self-reliance and discipline. It’s incredible to watch students go from worry and doubt to happiness and pride when they make it down the hill for the first time without falling. Through SOS, these kids learn that they are the type of people who are capable of anything.”

The ski season of 2007-2008 marked the 8^th year for SOS in Oregon. And SOS Outreach wishes to have many more such successful years.