Ski Jumping

Descending the ramp followed by the jump: fractions of seconds amidst the headiness of flight.

A leap into the void, bodies symmetrical with skis, the public below waiting with baited breath for a landing in perfect style after a hundred metres hanging suspended in the air.

Pragelato: a spectacle that will enchant the world.

From the heights of the ski jump athletes defy the laws of gravity: ski jumping is a discipline that requires power, rapidity, sensitivity, precision, equilibrium and concentration.

The essential phases in this speciality are launch, takeoff, flight and landing: the smallest of errors can severely compromise the entire jump.

The athlete races down the inrun tracks and leaps into a thrilling flight across the void: the influence of thermal currents, the graceful flight parabola, the rush of the void matched by the athlete’s courage, all contribute to determining the final jump result.

Two jumps have to be made in the competition (plus a test jump) and the athlete who achieves the highest score is judged the winner. The overall evaluation is based on the length of the jump made (a parameter transformed into points) and the style assessment provided by the 5 ski jump judges (the best and worst scores from the five judges are rejected).

The competitions

The starting order is decided on the basis of the results from the last World Cup.

Elements in a jump

The Ski jump

The ski jumpers take on an aerodynamic and crouched position in order to reach maximum speed. Ski jumpers cannot use ski sticks, thrusts or any other such aids to increase their speed.

Take off

Take off occurs using the force applied by the legs and extending the body as far forward as possible in order to create an angle while the tip of the ski points upwards. Using the V technique, the skier must extend the skis, assuming a symmetrical position as quickly as possible. During take off, timing is extremely important.

Flight

The skier is normally able to stay in the air for about 5-7 seconds. If in the first phase of the jump errors are committed which are then corrected they do not count as penalties. However, those committed during the last part of the jump do count against the athlete.

Landing

The evaluation methods for the athletes in this last phase of the jump follow the criteria of uniformity and the athlete is judged on the basis of the position displayed during impact with the ground, security in making the landing and whether the skis are more or less together.

Slow down zone

This is the area at the end of the ski jump where the athlete begins to slow down until finally stopping; if he falls, no penalties are incurred.

Score

Each judge has 20 points available to him, from which the following penalties are subtracted:

Flight phase

• Maximum deduction for the flight phase (5 points)

Landing phase

• Maximum deduction for the landing phase (5 points)
• Non telemark landing (2 points)

Deceleration phase

• Maximum deduction for the deceleration phase (7 points)
• Insecurity and/or incorrect position of the body including support of the body/hands on the snow or plastic (from 0.5 to 3 points)
• Position with both hands and/or the rear part of the body touching the snow and/or plastic but recovering balance before crossing the fall limit (5 points)
• Fall before crossing the fall limit (maximum 7 points)

Source: www.torino2006.org

Event schedule