Recreation

Silver Mine Invitational #127

127th installment of North American Ski Jumping Contest

Briana Novacek, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

Looking to check out some champions and locals get their ski on?  You won’t have to wait long.  On January 18 through the 20, the USA Cup and North American Ski Jumping Championships will take place at Silver Mine Hill in Eau Claire.  It will start with the 127th Annual Silver Mine Invitational and US Cup (which is a national event), along with the 2nd Annual Silver Mine Cup Pond Hockey Classic.  The Eau Claire team will be the first event in the Five Hills Event, which will include several athletes from European countries.  There should also be some great ski jumping from the top juniors and women hailing from the US and Canada.  The events will begin at 7pm on Friday, and there’s even a plan to have a DJ afterwards that night. The events on Saturday will begin at noon, with awards afterwards.  The Pond Hockey Classic will continue, along with more jumping from American and Canadian juniors and women. The jumping portion for the North American Championships will also be hosted here that day, with the final jumping event for the day being the Xcel Energy Long Standing competition.  WEAU News 13 will have a hospitality tent throughout the weekend, including a band performing on Saturday. On Sunday, the Pond Hockey Classic will finish.  The Cross Country portion of the North American Championships will be hosted at Tower Ridge, which is a few miles outside of Eau Claire.  It will be Nordic Combined, which is a winter sport where athletes compete in both cross country skiing and ski jumping. The admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the gate, with kids 12 and under being free.