Ski Jumping

Over the past hundred years, ski jumping has evolved enormously with different jumping techniques allowing jumpers to achieve ever greater distances.

Beginnings in Norway

The origin of ski jumping can be traced to Ole Rye who jumped 9.5m in 1808. Norwegian Sondre Norheim is widely considered the father of modern ski jumping. In 1866 he won what has been described as the world’s first ski jumping competition with prizes, held at Ofte, Høydalsmo, Norway.

Early pioneers

After World War I, Thulin Thams and Sigmund Ruud developed a new jumping style known as the Kongsberger Technique. This involved jumping with the upper body bent at the hips, a wide forward lean, and with arms extended at the front with the skis parallel to each other. Using this technique Sepp Bradl of Austria became the first to jump more than 100 metres when he jumped 101 metres in 1936.