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Peter Prevc, who won all jumps ex- cept Oberstdorf in the 2015-‘16 sea- son, taking the title. 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 Bis- chofshofen cheered on his shifting of the limits. And that’s the source of the charm of these ski jumps – ex- tending limits, destroying all preju- dices and achieving goals that seem like science fiction. So, buckle up and let’s fly into the New Year together. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) 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 highest mountain in Germany. The town’s most fa- mous resident was Richard Strauss, a leading composer of the late Romantic era. The Partenkirch- en Ski Club has been organising
in Garmisch, with more than 20,000 spectators in attendance. Apart from ski jumpers from Germany and Aus- tria, participating guests also came from Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Yugoslavia – our former country was represented by five competitors from the then republic of Slovenia. The Four Hills” event was first televised in 1956, when the dates that remain current to this day were first established: the first stop is Oberstdorf (29 th or 30 th Decem- ber), then, on the first day of the New Year, the jumping takes place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The tour- nament then moves from Germa- ny to Austria, or more precisely to Innsbruck (4 th January) and Bis- chofshofen (6 th January). There have been years when the schedule was changed, but the organisers insisted on this competition calendar being respected whenever possible. For ex- ample, two jumps were held in Bis- chofshofen last year, simply because there was no snow in Innsbruck. 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, with grand slam success first being repeat- ed by Kamil Stoch (2017-2018), and then a year later by Ryōyū Kobayashi. Three nations have dominated this competition over the years, with 16 wins each. Alongside hosts Austria and Germany, the third nation is Finland, which has produced fantastic ski jumpers. Janne Ahonen is the on- ly champ to have celebrat- ed victory in this competi- tion five times, during the late ‘90s and the early noughties, while Norwegian Bjørn Wirkola, who was also a professional football- er, managed three consecutive victo- ries from 1967 to 1969, marking an achievement that has never been re- peated. Only one Balkan native has managed to record a win on the ski jumps to date. That was Slovenia’s
New Year’s ski jump competitions since 1921. Oberstdorf (Germany) Oberstdorf 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 Nebelhorn and the Fellhorn, two high mountains that are renowned for their idyllic landscapes of great flowering meadows, pine trees and lakes. The first leaps from the large ski jump in Oberstdorf date back to 1909, when Freiburg’s Bruno Bieler jumped 22 metres. Innsbruck (Austria) It might not have the same pro- file as Austria’s most famous cities of Vienna and Salzburg, but Inns- bruck is an extremely popular des- tination thanks to its unique loca- tion, situated just a few hours’ drive from Venice to the south, Zurich to the west and Munich to the north. The Innsbruck Ski Club was estab- lished in 1906, while the first genu- ine ski jump on Bergisel Mountain was first unveiled in 1927, when one Heinrich Mayerl jumped 47.5 metres. Innsbruck has hosted the Winter Olympics on two occasions, in 1964 and 1976. Bischofshofen (Austria) Bischofshofen is a town situated in the valley of the Salzach river in the Alps, in the state of Salzburg. Its Great Roy- al Ski Jump was erect- ed in 1947 and its first record holder was German Rudi Gering, who flew as far as the magical 100-metre mark on 27 th February 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 today named in honour of this brave local boy from Bischofshofen.
naših božićnih praznika, baš kao i Deda Mraz, Sneško Belić ili novogodišnje odluke Television led to ski jumps becoming as integral a part of our Christmas holidays as Santa Claus, Snowmen or New Year's resolutions
104 | Ski-skokovi » Ski jumping
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