Collection: Kids Will Build Ski Jumps—ALWAYS!

Things change, that’s a constant we can all hang our hats on. However, some things are timeless—literature, music, architecture, and art. Other aspects of life will never go out style—like handwritten thank you notes and The Beatles. When you’ve lived for 103 years, like Klaus Obermeyer, you’ve seen a lot of change. One thing in Klaus’s life that has never wavered: kids will always build jumps in the snow (and wipeout). Whether it was Klaus in Bavaria in 1927 or kids today in Aspen, children building booters in the snow will always be a thing. It’s timeless!

“That’s how we got started,” remembers Klaus Obermeyer, now 103 years old. “Every day after school we would race home to play on our little jumping hill. We couldn’t turn yet, we hadn’t yet learned how to turn; so, we had to let it run out until it stopped. Then, we made those jumps bigger and bigger. Years later we finally had it so our ‘little jumping hill’ was almost 30 meters.”

100 years ago, an inventive, adventurous young kid in Bavaria built jumps in the snow after school. This is a snapshot we’ve seen for eons in mountain towns. Whether he was building skis with wood from orange crates or jumps with his friends, Klaus started paving the path towards a century of design, innovation, problem solving, and fun in the mountains.

Kids hitting jumps—and the inevitable wipeouts that come—is timeless. It’s a poignant reminder that skiing is fun, we all were kids once, and stoking that inkling keeps the childlike fire burning.