Recreation Kid Stuff

Learning to Fly

from the Great Depression to the 21st Century, the Flying Eagles Ski Club has been launching dreams for Chippewa Valley kids

Barbara Arnold, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

POSIN’ AND SOARIN’  MEMBERS OF THE FLYING EAGLES (LEFT) POSE at the mt. washington ski complex, and a ski jumper takes to the skY.
Members of the Flying Eagles Ski Club

For more than a century, Eau Claire has been a hotbed for devotees of the thrill-seeking Nordic sport of ski jumping – and for most of that time, the Flying Eagles Ski Club has been there to help young jumpers earn their wings. The dedicated group of 50 kids, parents, and volunteers continues to grow with the help of an Eau Claire Community Foundation grant (which will help expand the reach of the club’s Learn-to-Ski Day in January) and the competitive success of its members, four of whom aim to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Flying Eagles are the feeder team for the Eau Claire Ski Club, which sponsors a world-renowned ski jumping meet at Silver Mine Hill in mid-January. The Flying Eagles focus on social and competitive skiing and ski jumping for youth. In ski jumping, competitors go down a take-off ramp, called an in-run, to build up speed, and then jump and fly as far as possible. The in-run is measured in meters: K90, for example, would be a jump that you could “fly” 90 meters – for comparison, that’s about the length of a football field. Competition points are awarded for distance and style. The perfect form, gleaned from photographs, might look like you’re in a standing (rather than a seated) child’s pose from yoga at a 45-degree angle with the tips of your skis nearly touching your nose. Your view from that high is much like an eagle’s – thus the name.

Long History, Bright Future

GETTING THEIR WINGS. Aspiring ski jumpers work through strength and condition relays. The jump wasn't in the right condition due to recent mild weather, but a large chunk of work is done on the ground before hitting the jump.
GETTING THEIR WINGS. Aspiring ski jumpers work through strength and condition relays. The jump wasn't in the right condition due to recent mild weather, but a large chunk of work is done on the ground before hitting the jump.

The club was born in the boiler room of the Fourth Ward School, later renamed Mt. Washington, in Eau Claire’s Shawtown neighborhood in the 1930s during the Depression era, according to sports writer Ron Buckli’s book, The Flying Eagles and the School Yard Jump. Seven ski enthusiasts, all less than 10 years old, joined with the school janitor, who agreed to lead them, along with a Works Progress Administration crew who built the original jump on Mt. Washington Hill. This schoolyard ski jump, Buckli wrote, “transformed a city neighborhood from one high in delinquency to one that grew young champions.”

The Urlaub family happens to live right across the street from the Mt. Washington Ski Complex, home of the Flying Eagles. Children Andrew and Noelle got involved when they lived on Monte Carlo Drive. Neighbors’ children knocked on their door one winter day and asked if they wanted to try a different kind of sport. They said “yes.” Andrew was six years old, and Noelle was seven at the time.

Both Urlaub kids participated in the club’s Learn-to-Ski Day then, and will be helping with it this winter (see sidebar for details on the event). Kids learn how to ski on the ground first before they are even allowed on a jump. This year, a grant from the Eau Claire Community Foundation is helping expand the club’s reach to new participants for this event via Boys and Girls Clubs and other youth groups.

“It’s indescribable. You don’t really look down. You are focused on the spot you want to land. The sky above … the people below … are in the background.” – Andrew Urlaub 13-year-old ski jumper

“I’m training for the Junior Olympics and my dream is to compete in the Olympics,” says Andrew Urlaub, now 13. “I’ve participated in other sports in school, and my experience is ski-jumping is safer than football, basketball, and soccer. You have to wear a helmet, and our coaches never let us go to the next level until they know we are ready.” Through ski jumping, Andrew has been able to travel to places such as Park City, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, as well as Steamboat Springs, Colo.

When asked to describe ski-jumping. Andrew replies that “it’s indescribable,” adding, “You don’t really look down. You are focused on the spot you want to land. The sky above … the people below … are in the background.”

His mother, Michelle Urlaub, added privately that homework is no longer a problem. The structure of the club and ski jumping creates an incentive for him to get his homework done well and in a timely manner.

His sister Noelle, now 14, appreciates the social aspects of the club. She initially learned when she was eight and didn’t like it so much. She quit, and then rejoined later in her early teens. “It’s fun, great exercise, and I have a whole group of friends that I normally wouldn’t have who love skiing.”

Year-Round Sking

A local ski jumper takes to the sky.
A local ski jumper takes to the sky.

Self-described mom/urban farmer and club past president and vice president Michelle Urlaub gave a tour of the Flying Eagles clubhouse, which is being renovated. She picked up a kelly green piece of plastic about 8 inches wide by 2 feet long that looked like a piece of plastic hula skirt. “This is what makes summer practice possible here now,” she said. “They interlock together much like shingles on a roof to create the landing hill. That’s watered down, and then the kids can practice ski-jumping in the summer as well as winter.”

The Flying Eagles’ ability to practice year-round is largely due to Dan Mattoon, a former champion ski jumper with the Flying Eagles Ski Club and the Eau Claire Ski Club. Mattoon, who owns Prestige Auto, was inducted into the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame in 2014 for everything he has done to “single-handedly save ski jumping in Eau Claire” said Paul Loomis, another dedicated volunteer. Mattoon has been involved as a coach, an organizer, a fundraiser, and a donor.

“I started ski-jumping when I was seven years old, “says Mattoon, who was contacted for this story while on his way to judge a ski jumping competition in Park City. “Keith Zuehlke” – a top U.S. ski jumper in the 1950s – “gave me my first pair of skis in the winter of 1973. My mom and dad didn’t even know I jumped for about a year as I thought I might get in trouble.

“I have been hooked ever since, enjoying all aspects of the sport from athlete, coach, judge, chief of competition, president of jump clubs in town, etc.,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how exciting it is to watch these young kids blossom not only in the sport of ski jumping but in life itself. This sport of ski jumping has a very special way of molding a young mind by giving them confidence to make the next big step in the ever-changing journey of life.”

Learn-to-Ski Day

The Flying Eagles Ski Club will cold its annual Learn-to-Ski event 4-9pm Friday, Jan. 2, at the ski complex, 1805 Menomonie St. Interested families can call event coordinator Tracy Dowling at (715) 552-1428 with their children’s names, ages, boot size, and preferred time. The event is free. Learn more about the club at flyingeaglesskiclub.org.