April 19, 2004 – Corby Fisher, jumping coach with the  U.S. Nordic Combined Team for two seasons, has been named  head coach  for the U.S. Ski Jumping Team, Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner announced.

Fisher, a Ski Team jumper  in the mid-1990s, who turned  to coaching after injury cut short his career, grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and attended the University of Wyoming. He was program director for the Park City-based National Sports Foundation before being named jumping coach with the combined team after the 2002 Olympics.

“I'm extremely excited,”  Fisher said. “We have a group of athletes I really believe in, and we have good support from the nordic community.”

He replaces Kari Ylianttila, who resigned earlier this  month after 10 years with the Ski Team. Fisher starts work immediately, Bodensteiner said. He also said that he and Head Coach Bard Elden expect to name a new jumping coach for the nordic combined team in the near future.

“We  had some good candidates, including two strong applicants from Scandinavia, but in the end this was an easy decision and should  be an easy transition because Corby knows the players, and knows the Ski Team. He's already hit the ground running in organizing the team and the program for next season. His energy  and his insight will help us as we head into the 2005 World Championships [next February in  Oberstdorf,  Germany] and the 2006 Olympics in Torino,” Bodensteiner said.

Fisher and his  wife Emily, assistant program director for the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, live in Park  City.