Best Racing Ski Team

What is Ski Jumping?

Ski jumping is a sport where the athlete skis down an “inrun” with a take-off ramp, which is the jump, trying to travel as far as possible. The skier is measured based on length and style. The skis used are quite wide and long. (260 to 275 centrimetres).

Ski Jumping Olympic Event History

Ski jumping is one of the first ski competition events. Norway held winter celebration events that included ski jumping competitions starting as early as the 1870s and ski jumping was included in the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924.Since the sport started in Norway, it’s no surprise that the Norwegians won every gold medal and five bronze medals in the Olympic Winter Games from 1924 to 1952.The large hill competition was introduced at the Innsbruck 1964 Winter Games.

The Evolution of the V-style Position

With the great desire to jump further, in 1985 V-style was innovated, where the skier holds his skis in a V-shaped position (instead of parallel) while in the air. The Swedish ski jumper, Jan Boklov, created this style; albeit, it was not favourable accepted at first. Most other skiers laughed at Boklov and he was penalized for his eccentric style. It seems that Boklov was miles ahead of his time, as a closer investigation proved that the V-style produced 28 per cent more lift.

How Ski Jumping Works?

The skier skis down a long ramp, known as the in-run, and then launches off into the air at speeds of up to 95 kilometres per hour. A very well-timed takeoff is determined by the athlete’s technique. After the takeoff, flight takes place and then landing. If the skier lands beyond the K point, it is considered dangerous and points are lost based on how far beyond this point the skier landed.The scoring is based not just on the length, but also the style of the jump.

• The length score is calculated from the K point. A jump up to the K point is awarded 60 points. Each metre beyond in multiplied by 1.2 for the large ramp and x2 for the normal ramp.
• The style score is determined by 5 judges awarding a score out of 20. The highest and lowest scores are ignored and the middle three are added together. Points from the jumps are used as time advantages for the cross country race.

Types of Ski Jumping Events in the Olympics

• Individual Normal Hill Event: Beginning before the day of the competition, the normal hill individual event starts with a qualification jump. The 15 best ski jumpers from the World Cup are pre-selected and are not required to participate in the qualification event. All other skiers must be in the top 35 to qualify. On the day of the event, there are two sets of jumps. The first set has 50 skiers (15 pre-qualified and 35 qualified) and the best 35 from this set will go to the final round. The second set starts with the lower performing athletes starting first and the top ski jumpers for the end.
• Individual Large Hill Event: With the exception of the event being on the large hill, this event follows the same format as the normal hill individual event.
• Team Large Hill Event: In this event, a team is made up of four members and there are two competition sets. In the first set, one team member from each team jumps. Then, the second team member from each team jumps. Then the third, followed by the fourth. In the second set, only the top eight teams from the first set compete. As in the individual events, the lower performing skiers start and the best skiers go last. The team with the best total score over all eight jumps wins.

Ski Jumping in the 2010 Whistler Olympics

The ski jumping event is scheduled to be in the 2010 Winter Olympics starting February 12th to 22th, 2010. The competition will be held in the brand new Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley located 18 kilometres southwest of Whistler on the Sea to Sky highway.

Utah is known throughout the world as being home to the best powder snow anywhere. The light fluffy snow that falls in the mountains of Utah is unique to the region. Most snow is wet and heavy, when compacted it forms ice and is slushy to drive on, but Utah snow is different. Light flakes, of what is termed powder, is a dryer snow that does not have the weight of the heavy slushy snow falls of the East Coast. The powder makes a snow pack that is unbeatable for creating perfect ski conditions and perfect conditions means the Utah ski resorts are packed with plenty of people.

Each year millions of visitors flock to the slopes of Utah mountains to ski the perfect run on the perfectly formed powdered snow. With each new snow fall skiers race to the top of the mountain to be the first to glide through the white powder. Because of its consistency, skiers a buried above their knees in a light dusting of snow as they slalom down the hills and runs of Utah ski resorts.

Resort destinations in Utah attract skiers from around the world who come to ski on the greatest snow on earth. The US Olympic ski team is headquartered in the mountains of Utah and spends their winters practicing on the slopes of the states many resorts. During the summer the team travels to Switzerland where the snow capped mountains of the Alps enjoy welcome skiers year round. Meanwhile back in Utah the ski resorts host many activities over the summer months with rides and downhill events that can be enjoyed where it is winter or spring.