The construction point (German : Konstruktionspunkt), also known as the critical point, calculation point, calculation line, K-point and K-spot, is a line across a ski jumping hill which indicates the hill's steepest point in meters. It was formerly used to classify the size of a ski jumping hill, and to calculate the number of points granted by a given jump. Since mid-2004, the hills are instead measured in hill size.
| Class | Construction point | Hill size [1] |
|---|---|---|
| Small hill | <45 | <50 |
| Medium hill | 45–74 | 50–84 |
| Normal hill | 75–99 | 85–109 |
| Large hill | 100–169 | 110–184 |
| Ski flying hill | ≥170 | ≥185 |
For a jump on the calculation point, the athlete gets 60 points. For every meter short or beyond this mark the jumper receives fewer or more points. For example: On a K120 hill (Calculation point 120 m) the meter value is 1.8 points. So a 122 m jump would be worth 63.6 points, a 118 m jump only 56.4 points. The distance points plus the judges marks result in the total score.
Nearly all competitions in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup use large hills with a critical point between 120 and 130. The largest is Mühlenkopfschanze in Germany. In addition, there is a bi-annual FIS Ski-Flying World Championship, which is held in one of the world's five ski flying hills: Vikersundbakken in Norway, Letalnica Bratov Gorišek in Slovenia, Čerťák in the Czech Republic, Heini Klopfer Ski Jump in Germany and Kulm in Austria. [2] In the FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup, and FIS Women's Ski Jumping Continental Cup, both normal and large hills are used. In the Winter Olympics, there is one competition on the normal hill, one on the large hill, and a team competition on the large hill.
Ski jumping competitions are based on a point system which combines points for length and style. For hills up to large, the scoring system grants 60 points to jumps which reach the critical point. [3] For ski flying hills, 120 points are granted for the critical point length. Based on the hills length, distance points are calculated, which is added for each meter beyond the critical point and subtracted for each point shorter than the critical point. A meter has more distance points in smaller hills. [4]
| Calculation point | Distance points |
|---|---|
| 20–24 | 4.8 |
| 25–29 | 4.4 |
| 30–34 | 4.0 |
| 35–39 | 3.6 |
| 40–49 | 3.2 |
| 50–59 | 2.8 |
| 60–69 | 2.4 |
| 70–79 | 2.2 |
| 80–99 | 2.0 |
| 100–169 | 1.8 |
| >170 | 1.2 |
Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup has been held since 1983. Many Nordic combined competitions use the Gundersen method, where placement in the ski jumping segment results in time (dis)advantages added to the contestant's total in the cross-country skiing segment.
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final score. Ski jumping was first contested in Norway in the late 19th century, and later spread through Europe and North America in the early 20th century. Along with cross-country skiing, it constitutes the traditional group of Nordic skiing disciplines.
Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 70,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since 1892, which since 1980 have been part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and 1983 the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. It has also hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics and the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1930, 1966, 1982 and 2011.
Thomas Morgenstern is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2002 to 2014. He is one of the most successful contemporary athletes in ski jumping, having won the World Cup overall title twice, the Four Hills Tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, eight World Championship gold medals, and three Winter Olympic gold medals.
Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff ramp using skis only; jump from the end of it with as much power as they can generate; then glide – or 'fly' – as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill; and ultimately land within a target zone in a stable manner. Points are awarded for distance and stylistic merit by five judges. Events are governed by the International Ski Federation.
Ski jumping has been included in the program of every Winter Olympic Games. From 1924 through to 1956, the competition involved jumping from one hill whose length varied from each edition of the games to the next.
Gregor Schlierenzauer is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tournament, and Nordic Tournament twice each; the Ski Flying World Cup overall title three times; as well as four medals at the Winter Olympics, twelve at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and five at the Ski Flying World Championships.
The Pine Mountain Ski Jump is one of the highest artificially created ski jumps in the world, located in Iron Mountain, Michigan, Dickinson County. It is part of the Kiwanis Ski Club and hosts annual FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup competitions. "Pine Mountain Slide is known throughout the world as one of the better jumping hills." Annually in February, it "hosts jumpers from around the world at the best tournament in the United States." Top-rated foreign jumpers compete. Currently Pine Mountain holds the U.S. records for the longest jump in World Cup competition at 140m, as well as the overall distance record at 144m (472.44feet). The facility also includes two smaller ski jumping hills that are built into the hill northwest of the large hill. Attendance is about 20,000 ski jumping fans year around.
Vikersundbakken or Vikersund Hill is a ski flying hill at Vikersund in Modum, Norway. It is one of the two largest purpose-built ski flying hills in the world. Nine world records have been set there, including the current record of 253.5 meters, set by Stefan Kraft. The complex consists of a large hill, a normal hill and several training hills.
The Hochfirst Ski Jump is a ski jumping hill located in Titisee-Neustadt in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The ski jump is named after the mountain Hochfirst in the Black Forest. It is the biggest natural ski jumping hill. This means that in contrast to many other ski jumping facilities, rather than an artificial tower, the natural gradient of the mountain slope was used for construction.
A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching the jump. The skier is then airborne until landing on the landing slope. The last part of the hill is the out-run, which may be either flat or even uphill, allowing the jumper to stop. The steepest point of the hill is the construction point, which is used to determine the score of a particular length. The size of a hill is measured in the hill size. Hills with a hill size exceeding HS185 are designated ski flying hills; there are five such hills in the world.
Kamil Wiktor Stoch is a Polish ski jumper. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport, having won two World Cup titles, three Four Hills Tournaments, three individual gold medals at the Winter Olympics, individual and team gold at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and individual silver at the Ski Flying World Championships. His other tournament wins include Raw Air (twice), the Willingen Five, and Planica7.
Piotr Paweł Żyła is a Polish ski jumper. He is a member of the national team and competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He is the 2021 World Champion on the normal hill, a bronze medalist of 2017 World Championships in individual large hill event, 2017 World Champion and a two-time World Championship bronze medalist and in the team large hill event, also the two time Ski Flying World Championships bronze medalist in team.
Trampolino Olimpico Italia is a ski jumping hill (K90), built in 1955 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It was the site of the ski jumping, Nordic combined (K90/15.0) and team events for the 1956 Winter Olympics. The Nordic combined event used a shorter in-run to allow average jumps between 60 and 70 meters while the upper starting points on the in-run were calculated to allow jumps of 70 to 80 meters. The 1956 profile had a safety limit of 14.5 m beyond the critical point of 72 m.. Among many national and international competitions starting with the 1927 World Championships, was the inauguration of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in 1979. Since the venue lost its FIS-certification in 1990, the installation lies dormant. In its day, the Cortina Ski Jumping hill was regarded as one of the most innovative and still today as one of the most architecturally beautiful examples still in existence. The stadium holds a maximum of 40,000 spectators in the arena and an additional 10.000 in the stands on each side of the hill.
The men's normal hill individual ski jumping competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 12 and 13 February 2010 at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia. It was the first medal event of the 2010 Games.
Peter Prevc is a Slovenian ski jumper. He won the 2016 Ski Jumping World Cup overall title and four Olympic medals, including gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the mixed team event. He also won the 2016 Four Hills Tournament and 2016 Ski Flying World Championships, three consecutive Ski Flying World Cup overall titles, silver and bronze medals at the 2013 Ski Jumping World Championships, bronze at the 2014 Ski Flying World Championships, and bronze and silver with the Slovenian national team at the 2011 Ski Jumping and 2018 Ski Flying World Championships, respectively.
Hill size (HS) is a measurement for the size of a ski jumping hill. It is calculated based on the technical data of a hill based on radius, angle of inclination and record distance. Since mid-2004, hill size became the official measurement for the size of hills, replacing construction points, which however remain the basis for issuing points. The distance is measured as a straight line from the takeoff to the knoll, and then follows the landing surface until reaching the hill size point. The world's largest hills are Vikersundbakken in Vikersund, Norway and Letalnica Bratov Gorišek in Planica, Slovenia with hill size of 240 meters. The hills normally mark the hill size physically with a horizontal line across the hill.
Tremplin du Praz is a ski jumping hill at Le Praz in Courchevel, France. The complex consists of four hills: a large hill with construction point of K125 (HS137), a normal hill at K90 (HS96), and two training hills at K60 and K25. The complex also has a cross-country skiing stadium used for Nordic combined. Jörg Ritzerfeld holds the large hill winter record of 134.0 metres and Nicolas Mayer the normal hill record of 100.5 metres.
Igman Olympic Jumps, also known as Malo Polje, is a defunct ski jumping hill on the mountain of Igman in Ilidža, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of a large hill with a construction point (K-point) of 112 meters (367 ft) and a normal hill with a K-point of 90 meters (295 ft). Construction started in 1980 and the venue opened in 1982 to host ski jumping and Nordic combined at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The large hill event saw Finland's Matti Nykänen set the hill record of 116.0 meters (381 ft) in front of 90,000 spectators. No other International Ski Federation (FIS) sanctioned competitions have taken place at the hills. During the Siege of Sarajevo, the hills became a battleground and have since not been used. However, there are plans to rebuild the in-run, expand the large hill and build new spectator stands and visitor facilities.