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There is a steep slope spilling down into the Ottawa River in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON.2
Jumper in flight off the Rockcliffe ski jump 74.39.1.941914
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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This steep slope was once known as Suicide Hill for good reason, especially to those unfamiliar with the sport of jumping on skis. In the early years of the 20thC, the slope attracted the attention of a small group of enthusiasts as a potentially safe landing area to allow them to indulge their passion for jumping as far and as high as gravity would permit.4
Sigurd Lockeberg Jumping on early cordwood ski jump 74.39.1.971910
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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At the top of Suicide Hill, the group would build a take-off ramp, at first of snow but later, as skills improved and more height and distance were needed, of easily constructed ramps of cordwood. By 1910, it was clear that if their goal of a permanent jumping facility was to be met, they would have to organize to negotiate on equal terms with the Ottawa Improvement Commission, an organization holding "…rather vague and strange ideas about the embellishment of the Capital…" (History of the Ottawa Ski Club, 1972, by Herbert Marshall, p.6)6
Jumping group, founding members of the Ottawa Ski Club 74.39.1.321910
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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In the same year, T J (Joe) Morin and Frank Bedard arranged a meeting at the YMCA. At its conclusion the Ottawa Ski Club had emerged from idea to reality with a president, Sigurd Lockeberg, "…a son of Norway and the most enthusiastic jumper of the lot…", a vice-president, Frank Bedard, and a secretary-treasurer, Joe Morin. Within four years and by dint of sheer hard work the small cordwood ramp became a permanent ski jumping tower that reportedly reached a landmark height of 115 feet. Foremost among those driving the project was Joe Morin, described as "…practically the whole club from 1910 to 1915…" (a remark attributed to C E Mortureux, Marshall p.73).8
Gathering of Ottawa Ski Club jumping group and others 74.39.1.761910
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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Crowds of people at Rockcliffe Park ski jump 74.39.1.811920
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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The public was fascinated by the sport. On those weekends when jumping practice was possible, hundreds of spectators assembled to watch and on at least one occasion the crowd was estimated to be 5,000.11
Large crowd of spectators gathered at outrun of ski jump 74.39.1.951920
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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Three individuals standing at the top of a ski jump.1910
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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By 1912, ski jumpers Sigurd and Hans Lockeberg, Paul Iverson, Hans Kihl and Arthur Pineaut were sporting celebrities. On March 9th of that year, the first annual jumping competition was held in Rockcliffe Park to which jumpers from other cities were invited. The OSC contingent acquitted itself with distinction taking the first four places while Sigurd Lockeberg won the Malensky Trophy for style and distance. No less spectacular, was a somersault executed by Adolf Olsen who would shortly move to Ottawa from New Hampshire.14
Grooming the Rockcliffe Park Ski Jump 74.39.1.801913
Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, ON
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