Dear Monsieur Rogge: Ski jumpers don't bite

Even the women and even though they are really ticked at you and your organization for denying them entry into the Vancouver games. So you don't have to run away from them!

Rogge did not respond--did not respond!--to a request by two jumpers (Lindsey Van of the US and Katie Willis of Canada) to meet when he was in Denver recently.

I think Rogge should get up to the top of a jump, sit on that little board, look down the long, steep hill and reconsider how he is treating these women.

[PS of sorts: Rogge has said the women should email him to tell him why they should be included.]

You can sign this petition if you want to show your support. For inclusion of female jumpers in the games--not for getting Rogge to the top of a jump. Maybe I will start that one if the legal proceedings, slated to start April 20, don't work out.

So I finally got my ski jumping pics loaded! And am taking this post as an opportunity to share them. I hope you get a sense of just how crazy it is to shoot down an icy slope on two very long sticks, get some air, and then land on those two sticks. Plus you have to look good doing it! Your score is style plus distance.

The people above decide how stylish you are.

So these are all from the event in Brattleboro, VT.

The jumper landing is one of the female jumpers. She was the best and met or exceed the length of many of the male competitors that day.

Did I mention that it was really, really muddy?