SPORTS · SKI JUMPING

SKI JUMP

Take off at the edge, hold the angle in the air, land a telemark. Real lift and drag, scored the way the FIS does it.

LARGE HILLHraunfjall · K 120 · HS 140

KM/H0METRES0.0WIND m/s+0.8BEST—

CONDITIONS

HILL

WIND

A headwind blows up the hill and lifts the jumper, so it costs points; a tailwind earns them. The lights on the flag masts show which: green for head, red for tail.

The flight: lift and drag from the angle of the body to the air, both around 0.5–0.9 m² in the V-style, gravity and a steady wind — integrated 240 times a second. The body angle you hold decides both.

where this comes from

Simplified, and said so: the jumper is one point with a body angle, not a body with limbs; the wind is steady along the hill; the gate and the in-run speed are fixed; a fall is a threshold on how hard you meet the slope. The hills are invented, built to FIS proportions. The watched flight is illustrative: a gate a click higher and a steady headwind, the conditions long flights come from.

FIS — International Competition Rules (ICR) Ski Jumping, art. 431: distance points (60 at K on normal and large hills, 120 on flying hills; 1.8 and 1.2 points per metre on large and flying hills), five judges, highest and lowest dropped, wind and gate compensation.
FIS — Standards for the Construction of Jumping Hills: in-run and landing-hill angles around 35°, take-off table angle about 10–11°, K-point and hill size (HS) definitions.
Müller W., Platzer D., Schmölzer B. (1996) Dynamics of human flight on skis: improvements in safety and fairness in ski jumping. Journal of Biomechanics 29(8).
Schmölzer B., Müller W. (2005) Individual flight styles in ski jumping: results obtained during Olympic Games competitions. Journal of Biomechanics 38(5).
Virmavirta M., Isolehto J., Komi P. et al. (2005) Characteristics of the early flight phase in the Olympic ski jumping competition. Journal of Biomechanics 38(11) — take-off velocities perpendicular to the table of about 2–3 m/s.
Records: Stefan Kraft, 253.5 m, Vikersund, 18 March 2017; Domen Prevc, 254.5 m, Planica, March 2025 (the official record as of 2025). Ryōyū Kobayashi flew 291 m in April 2024 on a purpose-built hill at Hlíðarfjall near Akureyri, Iceland — a Red Bull project, not a FIS-sanctioned competition, so not a record.