Chester Bowl Ski Jump: Ski jumps that launched Olympians come tumbling down

I recently talked to Joe about his start in skiing. It all started with a duck hunting trip when he was in high school. This new group of friends had a fun time together and then went deer hunting together later that year. He got his first deer. It was now winter, and they mentioned to Joe to join the Duluth Ski Club at the bowl. It would be a lot of fun to have him. So he joined. With much coaching from his friends and Walter Mathow (?) at the club house, Joe took 2nd place at his first tournament, beating out some who been jumping longer. He was hooked.

He hasn’t said much about removing the old jump. He knows they have been trying to keep people off of it for safety reasons, but that hasn’t worked..Many want to preserve the jump as it has been a landmark for many years. Duluth hasn’t hosted a jumping tournament for many years now

His hunting trip was quite funny too. Their old car would not always start so they had to  find a hill to park on so they could roll down and start it later. The radiator fluid would leak out if parked too long, so there had to be river or lake nearby to fill it up again. Money was not plentiful so they only had a dime to buy enough to get home. Gas was cheap back then.

He has many trophies. I asked him which were his favorites. He said the city trophy because he had to win it three times to keep it with tough competition. I would like to see that the others get placed in a display case at the Cloquet ski hut. The jump hill is named after him.

My thoughts for today. I think it is pretty accurate.

Larry