Future Olympians hit the hills in Salisbury on Saturday for the 96th annual Jumpfest.
The weekend-long competition had jumpers from around Connecticut flying through the air, hitting their best marks and setting their sights on one day winning gold.
"When we moved here, we saw that there was ski jumping and like I wanted to try it," said Ava Joyal, of Vermont.
Joyal didn't just try it, she nailed it. The young jumper didn't see much snow when she lived in Texas, but she picked up ski jumping pretty quickly.
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"I’ve only been doing it for two months and I was like, 'I want to do the 18 so I went off it and it was so fun," Joyal said.
She and other jumpers took on the 20 meter jump with style, which was part of their scores. That plus their distance is how they were ranked in the competition.
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"I want at least 12 meters," said Agustus Tripler, of Salisbury.
Jump after jump, they came out and gave it their best shot. As the competition was heating up was the weather.
Friends Teagan and Bridget have been jumping for two years. They're settling into the 20 meter jump, but off in the distance is something bigger.
"The 65. That's the goal," one of the girls said.
Events all weekend long at Jumpfest are building up to another goal. The Eastern Division Junior National Team will be named on Sunday.
"It’s really fun. It’s also really fun when you’re going down the metal tracks. It’s just super fun because you get an adrenaline rush," Joyal added.
While they're flying high in the sky, thoughts of female competitors in Beijing are giving a lift to some of these young stars.
"It's cool and inspiring," Bridget Metcalf said.
It's setting the stage for young Olympic hopefuls.
"Yeah, one day I want to try to be on an Olympic team, yeah," Joyal said.
