Duluth to remove Chester Bowl ski jumps in August

The city of Duluth will tear down two historic ski jumps this month.

The two jumps tower over the treetops in the city's Chester Bowl Park. Built in 1924 and 1969, they served as the early training ramps for a generation of Olympic ski jumpers. Jumpers from Duluth competed in five consecutive Winter Olympics, from 1960 to 1976, and in Olympic games in the 1980s.

• Earlier: In Duluth, community steps up to preserve Chester Bowl ski hill

"We would run right up from school, get a few jumps before it got dark," said Adrian Watt, now of Esko, who competed in the 1968 winter Olympics. "Then we'd have a bowl of soup or a sandwich at the clubhouse up there, then they would have the lights on for night jumping for a couple hours."

But Duluth community relations officer Paula Reed says they haven't been used since 2005 and have fallen into disrepair.

"There simply isn't a demand for ski jumping," she said, "and the jumps that we have are more of a hazard than anything that can be used."

Three years ago the city removed parts of the jumps to try to prevent people from climbing them. Officials estimate it would cost over one million dollars to renovate them. Reed says the city will add another ski run at Chester Bowl in place of the structures, and is planning a historic marker to honor Duluth's storied legacy of ski jumping.