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2018 Pine Mountain Continental Cup Ski Jump

I have a friend named Matt who actually used to do this, when he was young, before they say our brain is finished forming fully. So for no other reason than that I recruited some pals and we headed to Iron Mountain MI for the weekend. Dan, Jim and Scott.

Not long after leaving Milwaukee the thought of lunch wonders into that brain thing and first stop was Kroll's West across from Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Great butter burger and a Wall of Fame of various Green and Gold legends. Peter Helf call this the "Fake Kroll's" as the one on the east side is the original but I like the bar better here. A must stop if you're in the area...except on game day.




We stayed both nights in Scott Zoellick's camp near Crivitz WI. Its a great place for an up north adventure with all kinds of dead animals on the walls. Scott is noted wildlife artist, hunt/fish guide type guy and a great host. Visit link at the end to see how talented he is. The compound has several buildings. Here's Jim and I in the studio. Jim is practicing his bow in case he meets a Japanese jumper tomorrow.



We also had to visit the local watering hole. Thunder Mountain Inn. Here's a shot of the crew.
(R to L) Dan, Jim and Scott. We ended up there again the following day too. Go figure.



Saturday was the first day of competition and my friends Stef and Wino had traveled there as well (Stef's has family in Iron Mountain) and with tailgating professionals. Food, grills, straw to keep your feet warm and a Porto-Potty. It was very nice. That's Wino in the black coat. You could actually stay on this spot the the entire day and still get a great view of the action.



There were nicer accommodations in the Corporate Village area. (I'm not joking) This "suite" is typical of that VIP area although its kind of funny to see a particle board/blue tarp structure with "US Bank Guests Only" on the door.



I met some nice folks. This guy is a skier of course although I don't have any idea who he is. Note the room in the helmet for more brains.



This guy is Joe. He's been to 40 of these events and explained this or that to me. Joe told me to save my pin. (The pin on my hat is your ticket stub in effect) He had them all over his hat.



The hill



They've been jumping on this hill since it opened in 1939 where the winner Bob Roecker (USA) went 78 meters. The winners today were flying 138 meters or more. Hill record is 143 meters. It's really something to watch. TV can't do it justice. The guy in this picture is only about half the way to landing.



The landing is something to watch too, but unlike NASCAR you don't really want to see anyone crash.



The following day on the way home we realized sturgeon spearing season was open on Lake Winnebago so we had to stop at Wendt's on the Lake to catch the festivities. This is a 74.1 lb beast with Dan and Jim.



Since, we'd been drinking we couldn't resist doing like the 5000 other cars were doing. So we "wents on the lake".  We were happy to only go out a mile. It's a city out there. The car behind me is passing traffic if you can believe that.



Don't think I've ever seen a picture on the car's GPS screen like this before.

Oh, and don't forget to visits Scott's website. www.thunderart.com

Just kidding about your brains Matt.



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