Ragnar OMTVEDT

Ragnar Omtvedt was born in Norway but emigrated to the United States in 1912. He became US ski jumping champion in 1913, 1914, 1917, and Canadian champion in 1922, strangely not competing as a jumper at the 1924 Winter Olympics. Omtvedt was instrumental in establishing the hill at Revelstoke, British Columbia as the top ski jumping hill in North America. In 1916 he jumped 192-9 [58.8 m] at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, said to be a world record at the time, although records were not carefully kept then. In 1924, Omtvedt was injured while jumping and developed nerve damage in a leg, which ended his ski jumping career. He turned to cross-country skiing to keep in shape, and in 1957 was elected into the US National Ski Hall of Fame.