Suicide kings and queens

Really, that's what these guys and gals are. Today my daughter,son,and I attended the 105th Norge Ski Jump Tournament in Fox River Grove. It was a spectacular sight seeing these jumpers ages 9 up to, I believe, about 40 jumping off this huge ramp. Most of the competitors were from Russia, Finland, Poland and Canada, but there were a good number of Americans, also. This event is part of the process of getting to the Olympics even though todays events were not due to the teams have been decided for the upcoming games. There were several former Olympic Champions there today, though. It was a perfect day to attend with clear blue skies and temps about 22F. No major wipeouts(which I was kind of looking for, you know, like the opening of Wide World of Sports)but still alot of fun watching them do there takeoff and stick the landing.  I was also amazed that the skiers walk the hill back up after their jumps.  No lifts to bring them back up.  Incredible.