Pandemic Doesn’t Slow Down Ski Jumpers at Pine Valley Park

The club has been holding jumps since before Thanksgiving.

CLOQUET, Minn. – The pandemic has done a great job of ruining a lot of things, especially in sports. But one place that has been able to weather the storm has been the ski jumpers at Pine Valley Park in Cloquet.

But they’ve had to make some adjustments, too, like limiting groups to just two families at a time and keeping the chalet closed. That limits close contact between the groups for a sport that is already able to keep its participants socially distant. Most of the club’s delays have to deal with snow, but that hasn’t been an issue this season as they’ve been jumping since before Thanksgiving.

“We would’ve been out here playing anyways because it’s outdoors, it’s a park. We as a club made some rules to try to keep it as safe as possible. Because usually we would have two big jump sessions and the place would be packed. And we just sort of spread it out over six hours over five days of the week so that it’s just this steady trickle of jumpers instead of a big flood,” said club director Ken Ripp.

For more information, head to the Pine Valley Park Facebook page.