Wilbert Rasmussen, known as Wil, was born in Negaunee on June 26, 1930.

He began skiing at the age of three and in a short time his natural ability and love for the sport became evident. He would rise at 4-5 in the early morning to practice ski jumping before going to school. With no formal coaching or training, Wil progressed through his own self discipline and competitive spirit.

He loved difficult challenges, whether it was the most demanding hill, with the most treacherous weather conditions, or the most skilled skiers. He was a star in many sports editors columns.

Often if not the first or second place winner of his class for the day, he proved to be the hero with the longest jump, or the most graceful rider. He captured the attention of many spectators as he pitted himself against the skills of older more seasoned jumpers.

His ski style was at a high degree of perfection and was unique. Wil gained national acclaim on February 22, 1946, when at the age of fifteen and a half, he smashed the record at Ishpeming’s Suicide Hill with a jump of 250 feet, breaking the record of 236 feet made in 1941 by Roy Bietila.

It was widely published that no ski jumper of such a young age had ever accomplished such a feat. But this was just a prelude to an 11 year career that Wil established himself, as one of the world’s most competitive and power-distance jumpers.

At age 17, Wilbert won the Class C National Championship at Suicide. with the long standing jump and most graceful rider awards. A great human interest feature of Wil’s career took place at Steamboat Springs, Colorado when the Steamboat Club would not allow the 17 year old to jump on their largest meter hill.

A rider had to be eighteen. Amid protests from the Ishpeming Ski Club, “”You must let him jump, he has learned to ski on big hills, he’s a big hill jumper.” Steamboat consented to let him ride as an exhibitionist.

Wil modestly changed numbers with another dissatisfied skier who had pulled number one as the starting skier, and there Wil broke trails for all the skiers of the day, and he also had the longest jump of the meet, outdistancing the entire Class A field.

In 1951, Wil entered the service but was granted a special leave from the Army to to participate in the Olympic tryouts at Iron Mountain. Wil came in fourth in the country and won a berth on the 1952 U.S. Olympic Team. He was granted a leave from the Army to participate in the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway. He got to jump on what was considered , at that time, to be the,” testing hill of greatness.” Wilbert returned to the U.S. Army and served in Korea as an infantryman until October 1953, when he was discharged.

In February 1954, he returned to Suicide Hill and proved to 4,000 fans that he had not lost the polish that made him one of the most sensational young riders in the country.

In 1957, Wilbert won the class A title at Suicide Hill and was selected to the F.I.S. World Championship team, ranking fourth in the United States, that would qualify him to participate in the World Championship games in Lahti, Finland, in March of 1958.

In an era before corporate and commercial sponsorships that we see for today’s Olympic-quality athletes, Wil was forced to withdraw from competition, at this very peak of his career due to family and financial obligations.

Even though this was a disappointing development, Wilbert Rasmussen had already made an indelible mark on the sport of ski jumping, in America. Wil’s contribution to skiing did not end here. He continued to promote the sport to youngsters and played a vital role in coaching junior skiers from 1964-1973. Wilbert Rasmussen died in 2005.