Column: A long time coming for Erik the Great

On Sunday at Montana Snowbowl ski area outside of Missoula, Erik Wilson flew 183 feet through the air and under the radar.

The usual array of local and national media weren’t present at the Montana Gelande Championships — COVID-19 had something to do with that — but Wilson’s win still counts. It was his third, to go with championships in 2006 and 2009.

That’s a long time between first and third titles, and if my math is correct, this 1998 Whitefish High School graduate is on the plus side of 40 years old.

“Forty-one,” he said Tuesday. “Old Man Jumping.

“Not really. We had a guy 58 years old jumping this year. Actually two (Rob Davis and Andy Atha). Both of them kind of tweaked their backs and didn’t jump a lot. But they jumped.”

Wilson, who owns a house painting business in Kalispell, is now in rare air, like that you catch rocketing 15 feet above a mountainside: Not many have won more than two of these.

Before and after his 2006 and 2009 titles, Erik’s brother Rolf won many, but now Rolf lives in Seattle.

“And he hasn’t been able to break away and compete the last two years,” Erik said. “He’d love to be here, but it’s a long way to travel for the weekend.”

In 2014 Rolf won his 10th championship, leaving him one behind the 11 taken home by Leapin’ Lloyd Thorsrud. That was the year the event, which dates at least back to 1974 (champion: Ronald Matelich) kind of faded from view; in 2015 it was canceled for lack of snow.

Asked if Rolf ever got the record, Erik responded: “Well, let’s count them up.” He had the traveling trophy, a 2-foot tall cup, sitting precariously on his mantle.

The proof is in the engraving — Rolf went back-to-back in 2016-17, giving him 12 titles.

Marsh Gooding won the next three, giving him four.

“He’s an animal,” Erik Wilson said of Gooding. “He has huge legs. He’s got a good pop and flies well. He also has a new baby and bought a home in Steamboat [Colorado] and so he couldn’t be here.”

When Wilson won his second in 2006 he set the distance record at the event, traveling 205 feet.

It almost goes without saying that Rolf matched that record while winning in 2012.

“He won’t seem to let me get anything by myself in this sport,” said Erik.

The good news, sort of, is that the Gelande course at Snowbowl is pretty much maxed out.

“There’s no more hill down there,” Wilson said. “You might be able to sneak out a 206, but you’re probably going to regret the next day. You have to land and then get centered over your skis so you’re standing up.

“If you’re in the back seat, the transition is so abrupt you can sink down. … It makes you think about it at the top of the hill: ‘Do I really want to do this?’”

The landing is the worrisome part. At Snowbowl skiers rarely get more than 15 feet above the ground. At Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where there’s a 90-foot ramp, they’ll be 35 feet up. It was there that Wilson did his personal best: 347 feet.

Rolf Wilson has the world record of 374.

“Through one goal post, over the entire football field, through the other goal post, and then some,” says Erik.

No such distance is possible at Snowbowl, but it’s still an event.

“Lots of spectators, even with COVID,” Wilson said. “It was mostly skiers. They had lots of precautions in place. They didn’t advertise at all. I didn’t go into the bar or restaurant at all.

“It’s a tough struggle trying to keep people healthy and safe and still have a place where people can go and enjoy themselves.”

Here’s to a more open Gelande Championships in 2022, weather and pandemic-permitting. Wilson, married father of two, will almost certainly make the two-hour trip to compete. If Athos and Davis can do it ...

“As long as my body’s good enough to go,” Wilson said. “They make me feel like I have to jump at least until my 50s. I don’t know that I want to do that, but it is a lot of fun and that’s what keeps me going.”

Sports writer Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.