SPORT / SPORTS
FOUR HILLS Jump over white mountains
Competitions are held each year, from 28 th December to 6 th January, in ski jumping, and television led to them becoming an integral part of Christmas and New Year’s holidays T he Four Hills Tournament, aka the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week, is held over the course of just sev- en days each year, yet we’ve nonetheless all seen the spectacle at least once in our lives. It is on the first day of the year, following the famous Vien- na New Year’s Concert at noon, that this sporting event begins and is watched av- idly by viewers eating leftovers from the previous evening’s New Year dinner. The competition began on the first day of 1953 in Garmisch, with more than 20,000 spectators in attendance. Apart from ski jumpers from Germany and Austria, participating guests also came from Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Yugoslavia – our former country was rep- resented by five competitors from the then republic of Slovenia. The Four Hills event was first televised in 1956, when the dates that remain cur- rent to this day were first established: the first stop is Oberstdorf, then, on the first day of the New Year, the jumping takes place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The tournament then moves from Germany to Austria, or more precisely to Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. There have been years when the schedule was changed, but the organisers insisted on this competition calendar being respected whenever pos- sible. This year, too, the tournament be- gins with a qualifying competition on 28 th December in Oberstdorf, continues in Garmisch on New Year’s Day, jumps to Innsbruck on 4 th January and the final competition takes place in Bischofshofen on 6 th January.
Oberstdorf (Germany) Schattenberg Ski Jump
Winning all four tournament events is referred to as a grand slam, and it was only achieved for the first time during the jubilee 50 th edition (2001-2002), by Sven Hannawald. However, this feat has become more commonplace in recent years. Three nations have domi- nated this competition over the years, with 16 wins each. Alongside hosts Austria and Germany, the third nation is Finland, which has produced fantas- tic ski jumpers. And there’s one ultimate achieve- ment to conclude. Dawid Kubacki, a little-known Polish jumper, set a ski jump record in January 2019, when he flew over a whopping distance of 145 metres, and the crowd in Bischof- shofen cheered on his shifting of the limits. And that’s actually the source of the charm of these ski jumps – ex- tending limits, destroying all preju- dices and achieving goals that seem like science fiction to many. So, buck- le up and let’s fly into the New Year to- gether. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Olympic Ski Jump This small town that lives from skiing is situated along the border between Germany and Austria. The picturesque town, which marks the centre of the Partenkirchen region, hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and is located on the slopes of the Zugspitze, the high- est mountain in Germany. The town’s most famous resident was Richard Strauss, a leading composer of the late Romantic era.
It is popular thanks to its 200 km of mountain-hiking trails and 130 km of tailored ski slopes, which have made it a great destination for lovers of nature. The most southerly village in Germany, it is located in a valley between the Nebel- horn and the Fellhorn, two high moun- tains that are renowned for their idyllic landscapes of great flowering meadows, pine trees and lakes. Innsbruck (Austria) Bergisel Olympic Ski Jump It might not have the same profile as Austria’s most famous cities of Vien- na and Salzburg, but Innsbruck is an ex- tremely popular destination thanks to its unique location, situated just a few hours’ drive from Venice to the south, Zurich to the west and Munich to the north. Innsbruck has hosted the Win- ter Olympics on two occasions, in 1964 and 1976.
Bischofshofen (Austria) Paul Ausserleitner Hill
This town is situated in the valley of the Salzach river in the Alps, in the state of Salzburg. Its Great Royal Ski Jump was erected in 1947 and its first record hold- er was German Rudi Gering, who flew as far as the magical 100-metre mark in 1949. It was just three years later, during a training session for local jumpers, that Paul Ausserleitner suffered a fall with tragic consequences. The ski jump is to- day named in honour of this brave local boy from Bischofshofen.
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