WESTBY, Wis. — One weekend each winter, a small town in western Wisconsin becomes the ski jumping capital of America.

Snowflake Ski Club expects more than 3,000 spectators Friday and Saturday night for its 99th annual ski jump tournament on the 118-meter hill, which can be seen miles away from Westby.

The tournament is a yearly celebration of the sport and Norwegian culture, in the town where settlers arrived from Norway in the mid-19th century. The competition typically attracts jumpers from Scandinavia, Central Europe and Japan, though due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, only Americans will compete in 2022.

Despite its location in a town of roughly 2,500 people, Snowflake has been a favorite hill for generations of jumpers. Seventeen-year-old Carter Lee of Eau Claire has launched off jumps across the country, but said he looks forward to Westby more than any other weekend.

“It’s the highest-flyer,” Lee said during a practice session Thursday. “You can go the farthest. Really it’s overall the best jump.”

Lee, who won the scaled-down 2021 competition on the 65-meter hill, said he was 4-years-old when his father put him on skis for the first time. He quickly became addicted to the feeling of floating downhill after takeoff.

“You just feel like you’re in the air and you’re hovering like a cloud,” Lee said. “You’re just right on top and you feel amazing.”

Lee is far from the only one upholding family traditions in Westby. Jacob Yttri and his brothers are the fourth generation to groom the landing areas of the hills at Snowflake. They are part of an all-volunteer crew of two dozen club members who prep the hills for tournament weekend each winter.

“It’s good that everybody lives close, because we’ve gotta take a lot of time off of work to do this,” Jacob Yttri said. “We pretty much do it for the support of the community and for people to come down and watch something that’s kind of rare to see.”

Jacob’s father Scott is part of the club committee in charge of the tournament. The family will join thousands of visitors over the weekend tailgating and watching the fearless flyers take off under the lights.

“It’s pure spectacle, especially in an Olympic year,” Scott Yttri said. “Here’s what you’re going to see in two weeks on TV.”

Hundreds of volunteer hours go into this two-night spectacular, when the crowd at Snowflake outnumbers Westby’s population. As long as jumpers are brave enough to make the climb and take the leap, new generations will keep this tournament going well beyond 100 years.