Ski jumping

Info and trivia

Ski jumping is a sport in where skiers go down an inrun with a take ff ramp, attempting to go as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long (240 to 270 cm). Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport, performed on snow, and is part of the Winter Olympic Games, but can also be performed in summer on artificial surfaces (porcelain, frost rail track on the inrun, plastic on a landing hill).

Competition

World Cup ski jumping competitions are held on three types of hills:

Normal hill competitions : for which the calculation line is found at approximately 80-100m. Distances up to and over 110 metres can be reached.
Large hill competitions: for which the calculation line is found at approximately 120-130m. Distances over 145m can be obtained on larger hills. Both individual and team competitions are run on these hills.
Ski-flying competitions: for which the calucation line found at 185m. Ski flying is an extreme version of ski jumping, (often called the Formula 1 of ski jumping).

The winner is decided on scoring system based on distance and style.

Each hill has a target called the calculation point (K point) which is a par distance to aim for. This point is marked by the K line on the landing strip. For K90 and K120 competitions, the K line is at 90 m and 120 m respectively. Skiers are awarded 60 points if they land on the K Line. For every metre beyond this average, jumpers receive fewer/more points than the par 60 (1.8 points per metre).
The view from the top of the ski jump in Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics.In addition, five judges are based in a tower that lies to the side of the expected landing point. They award up to 20 points for style based on keeping the skis steady during flight, balance, good body position and landing.

The final score consists of the distance score plus the middle three style scores from judges. For the individual event, the jumper with the best combined total from his two jumps is the winner.

Ski jumping is popular in Scandinavia and Central Europe. Almost all world-class ski jumpers come from those regions or from Japan. Traditionally, the strongest nations (with consistently strong teams) are Finland, Norway, Germany (formerly both East and West), Austria and Japan. However, there have always been successful ski jumpers from other countries as well. The Four Hills Tournament, held annually at four sites in Bavaria (Germany) and Austria around New Year, is very popular and draws huge crowds.

The FIS Ski jumping World Cup is arranged yearly by the International Ski Federation (FIS).

The Nordic Tournament is an annual ski jumping tournament that is a part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. The tournament started in 1997 as a counterpart to the widely successful Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria.

A ski jumping hill is a sport venue and is, next to the ski jumping skis, the most important device in the sport of ski jumping. The scandinavian term "bakken" is also often used.

International Ski Federation - international governing body