65 years later, Empire Stadium ski jumping remains Vancouver's oddest sporting spectacle

Sixty-five years ago today the world's best ski jumpers were in East Vancouver launching over Empire Stadium in a uniquely odd event that to this day holds a special place in local sports lore.

The May 3, 1958 Centennial Ski Jumping Invitational featured aprecariously tall and narrow tower of scaffolding and ice erected over the north end of the stadium. Looking at archive photos today, it seems a marvel no one died.

"I don't think there's a weirderevent than this one," said B.C. Sports Hall of Fame curator Jason Beck.

"The craziest thingis the extent they had to go to to stage it because they obviously didn't have a hill. So they built this scaffolding 165 feet [50 metres] tall. I've been told it actually swayed in the wind."

Thespectacle was conceived by a committee charged with organizing events to celebrate the Colony of British Columbia's 100th anniversary.

According to Beck, tonnes of ice was brought in,crushed and spread on the rampand landing area near centre field.

Vancouver was hardly a ski jumping hub in 1958, butfans flockedto the city by the thousands to take in the competition.

Sadly for organizers, most avoided buying a ticket, opting instead to watch the high fliers forfreefrom rooftops and streets in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood eastof the stadium, rendering the four-day competition a financial flop.

"They had decent[paying] crowds but what they didn't take into account was that you could sit outside the stadium on the hill in East Vancouver and see the entire thingbecause the event towered above Empire Stadium," said Beck.

"My favourite line about it is from Jim Kearney who wrote for the Vancouver Sun. He estimated there wereover 100,000 people watching from outside the stadium so he called it a 'Canadian record for freeloading.'"

World championJuhani Krkinenof Finlandwon the gold medal but never had the chance to defend the title as 1958 remains the first and only timeVancouver hosted an internationalski jumping competition.

"It's another little part of the amazing history of Empire Stadium," said Beck.

"Not only did it have the B.C. Lions and Whitecaps, the Miracle Mile, Harry Jerome ran there,The Beatles and Elvis, but there was this crazy ski jumping event held there too."