It‘s as easy as that: Go down a take-off ramp. jump, and attempt to fly as far as possible. Just beware of the details! The largest Hill Size (official measurement of a ski jumpimg hill) goes up to 225 Meters, heavy winds are blowing and you are standing on a pair of skis wide and long (102 to 108 in ). The jumps can go as far as 246,5 Meters (world record, Johan Remen Evensen of Norway). A sport which separates the men from the boys? Just another misconception!

Since 2006 women are allowed to ski jump, the first ever team event for women at World Champion-ships was 2011. But the proposal for a womens olympic ski jumping event was still rejected by the Executive Board of the IOC, President Jacques Rogge even saying “… we do not want the medals to be diluted and watered down …”. A group of 15 competitive female ski jumpers filed a suit against the Committee for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, the judgement came down against the ski jumpers. Even the following appeal got denied. Finally persistence won: On 6 April 2011 the International Olympic Committee officially accepted women ski jumping into the official Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The first ladies‘ ski jumping gold medalist is the German Carina Vogt.

One of the most important ski jumping venues (especially for the Summer Grand Prix) is based in Hinterzarten, Germany. In the heart of the Black Forest you find the 4-hill ski jumping complex. The ADLERSCHANZE ski jump is part of the Ski Jumping Grand Prix. In summer Hinterzarten is hosting the official german chamionships for ladies and men.

This is where I had a chance to get some first impressions of the microcosmos of international women's ski jumping. Hope you enjoy the snapshots from 2013 FIS LADIES WORLDCUP and 2014 FIS CUP in Hinterzarten.

Cheers Wolfgang

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