Ski jumping hill

A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching the jump. The skier is then airborne until landing on the landing slope. The last part of the hill is the out-run, which may be either flat or even uphill, allowing the jumper to stop. The steepest point of the hill is the construction point, which is used to determine the score of a particular length. The size of a hill is measured in the hill size. Hills with a hill size exceeding HS185 are designated ski flying hills; there are five such hills in the world.

Structure

The top of the hill is the start. This allows the jury to regulate the speed of the jumpers in varying wind conditions, by shortening or lengthening the distance along the in-run. The platform has a bar across it, which the jumper sits on. By leaning forward, the jumper will naturally start to glide down the prepared tracks along the in-run. The in-run normally has an angle of 38 to 36 degrees, which then curves into a transition; the last part of the in-run, the take-off, typically has an angle between 7 and 12 degrees downhill. The landing slope has a smooth curve which closely follows the profile of the ski jump; this means that the skier is never more than about 6 meters (20 ft) above the ground. The skier will land on the landing slope, and the rules allow jumpers to land up to ten percent past the construction point. Past the landing slope is the outrun, which is either flat or even uphill, where the skier can slow down. The speed of the skier is normally measured about 10 meters (33 ft) before the end of the takeoff; jumpers can reach speeds of 95 kilometers per hour (59 mph) on large hills and 105 kilometers per hour (65 mph) on ski flying hills.

Ski jumping

Ski jumping is a form of Nordic skiing in which athletes descend a specially constructed takeoff ramp (known as the inrun), jump from the end of it (the table) with as much power as they can generate, and "fly" as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill. Points are awarded for distance and style by five judges, with competition sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS). To enable the athletes (who are known as ski jumpers) to effectively glide such long distances and land safely, the skis they use are considerably wider and longer than their cross-country and alpine skiing counterparts. Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport and has been part of the Winter Olympic Games since its inception in 1924, but it can also be performed in the summer on artificial surfaces made from plastic. Along with cross-country skiing, ski jumping is one of two sports which form the Nordic combined discipline.

History