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Harsh jumped for chance at 1932 Olympics
By David Persons
DavidPersons@coloradoan.com
    LOVELAND - Jim Harsh enjoys watching the Winter Olympic Games on television.
    The 92-year-old retired engineer said he pays particular attention to the ski jumping.
    That's not surprising.

Sherri Barber/The Coloradoan

One of the best: Jim Harsh qualified as an alternate for the U.S. Nordic combined team in the 1932 Olympic Games at Lake Placid, N.Y.

    Seventy years ago, he was a competitive ski jumper and cross-country skier, one of the best in the United States.
    In fact, he qualified as an alternate for the U.S. Nordic combined team in the 1932 Games at Lake Placid, N.Y.
    "I probably would have made the team except conditions were so bad that year. We had no snow," Harsh said, shaking his head. "They have plenty in Utah today. But, the only way they could hold the qualifying for jumping back then was to throw water and straw on the hill and let it freeze."
    While the qualifying conditions were awful, being an alternate wasn't much fun either.
    Harsh says it was hard for him, as a 23-year-old at the top of his game, to watch the U.S. team compete. What made it more difficult was knowing that it was likely his only chance to compete in the Olympics and for him to do so one of his teammates would "have to be disqualified or break a leg."
    And, that

Jim Harsh
Age: 92
Family: Wife, deceased; one son, two granddaughters.
Education: Attended Colorado A&M.
Profession: Engineer for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, assigned to Colorado-Big Thompson Water Project.

didn't happen.
    As the memory of Lake Placid began to fade, Harsh started to wind down his competitive skiing.
    He admits it was hard to walk away from skiing. It was something he had been doing ever since he was 5 when his family lived in Hot Sulphur Springs west of Granby.
    But, he eventually quit competitive skiing for good in 1935 and got married.
    "Once I did that, I had to get a job, too," Harsh said.
    He was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to work on the Colorado-Big Thompson Water Project, an effort to bring water from the Colorado River under the Continental Divide to the Front Range. He became involved in damming Lake Granby and digging a tunnel under the Rocky Mountains from Lake Granby to Mary's Lake in Estes Park.
    Harsh said he was part of the project in one capacity or another until about 1950.
    "I'm still very proud of that," Harsh said. "It was important to bring water over here (to the Front Range) for farmers. There are a lot of homes here now, but it used to be mostly cornfields."
    After officially retiring from the Bureau of Reclamation in 1963, Harsh went to work part time for Loveland Redi-Mix as a tester in the firm's testing laboratory.
    Although he's beyond his competitive skiing days, Harsh said he still knows what the skiers feel on top of the mountain as they begin to ski down or as they begin a jump.
    "We didn't jump as far as they jump today but, yeah, I know what it's like," Harsh said. "You get a little buzz up there (before each jump)."
    He respects today's skiers and jumpers as they continue to push the limits of his sport, Harsh said. He knows there is little room for error and, unfortunately, each generation is constantly reminded of that.
    "I was up in Minnesota one time and saw a guy in front of me fall," Harsh said. "It was pretty bad and he had to be taken away. I thought about that a lot. He was pretty good but even the best guys get hurt.
    "But, you had to push yourself. If you didn't, the papers would write that you weren't trying your hardest. I think every time you (jumped), you thought about something like that."
    When asked when he quit skiing for good, Harsh laughed.
    "I haven't really quit yet," he said. "I went last spring at Winter Park."
    Harsh said he likely wouldn't ski this spring. But, that doesn't mean there's not an urge.
    "And, it's not a little urge, it's a big urge," he said, laughing again. "But, I have hurt my legs a couple times. Nothing serious. But, I usually make it miserable for the guys I go with. So, I'll probably wait a little bit before doing it again."

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