In Italy, the 25th Olympic Winter Games are getting underway. One of the most spectacular disciplines in the Games since the very beginning is ski jumping.
In ski jumping, athletes hurl themselves on skis down a steep slope, the jump, and then soar through the air for dozens of meters before landing on a sloping landing hill.
The roots of this sport lie in Scandinavia. In 1808, General Olaf Rye in Norway became the first officially measured ski jumper, flying 9.5 meters through the air. It would be more than half a century before the first official competition. In 1868, Sondre Norheim claimed the first victory and set a new record with a jump of 19.5 meters.
From then on, ski jumping spread rapidly throughout Europe. Since the very first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924, the discipline has been an integral part of the program.
Dry Ski Jump
But what happens to all those ski jumps when the spotlight fades? While the world's best jumpers compete for gold in Italy, concrete witnesses to bygone glory are slowly deteriorating elsewhere in Europe, such as in France. There, you can still find traces of one of the first dry ski jumps from the 1960s.
Such a jump was covered with plastic brushes so that athletes could practice year-round, regardless of the snow. The jump had become outdated by the end of the twentieth century and was abandoned.
Also in France, you can find the remnants of what was once the country's most modern ski jump. It was no longer built in wood but in concrete, yet it was quickly overshadowed by even newer and taller towers. International homologation was withdrawn in 1986, making official competitions no longer possible. The jump was only used as a practice facility.
Height difference
Compared to today's jumps, this one was a Lilliputian. The K-point (the height difference between the starting platform at the very top and the lowest point of the outrun) at this jump was 'only' 70 meters.
The K-point at the normal hill at the 2026 Winter Olympics is 98 meters, and at the large hill, 128 meters. As a result, jumpers are also jumping farther and farther. The Olympic record is held by Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer, who jumped an impressive 146.5 meters in 2010.
Demolished
Both ski jumps have now been largely demolished and cut in half, with only the jury tower and the upper section of the jump preserved. The landing zone where the jumpers landed and where thousands of spectators once witnessed the spectacle is now completely overgrown.
From Saturday, February 7, to Monday, February 16, ski jumping will take place at the Giuseppe Dal Ben ski jumping stadium in Predazzo. Discover the full schedule.
