Holmenkollbakken

Original hill

The first major skiing competition in Oslo was Husebyrennet, which was held in Husebybakken in Ullern from 1879 until 1891.^[1] In 1887, the road to Holmenkollen was opened, although it was at the time only used for recreation, as there was no housing in the area. I. C. L. Holm saw the potential to develop the area into a recreational centre, and established Peisestuen in 1886, Holmenkollen Sportsstue in 1891, Holmenkollen Sanatorium og Turisthotell in 1894, and Voksenkollen Sanatorium in 1900.^[2] In 1890, Husebyrennet had to be canceled due to lack of snow, and instead the tournament was held at Ullbakken at Frognerseteren. Because of the distance, the tournament was held on a Sunday; this caused some criticism, and to compensate it was decided not to collect entrance fees. The following year, the final event was held in Husebybakken.^[3]

Following the 1891 season, the lease with the land owner for Husebybakken needed to be renegotiated. Several times the venues had had too little snow and Fritz Huitfeldt and Hans Krag proposed building a new hill at Besserudmyra. After half a year of planning, the general assembly of the Association for the Promotion of Skiing approved the move in late 1891.^[3] To create sufficient water supply for the hotels, a dam had been built and this created Besserudtjernet, a small lake, at the bottom of the hill. It would cover with ice during the winter.^[4] Construction was simple: a few trees had to be chopped down and when the snow came, branches were laid where the jump was to be.^[5] The first competition was held on 30 January 1892, and was spectated by between fifteen and twenty thousand people,^[6] who saw jumpers reach 15 to 21.5 meters.^[7][8]

Holmenkollbakken in 1917, after the first scaffold had been erected

The original hill had a knoll just after the take-off, which gave the psychological feeling of falling and made landing more difficult. It was therefore decided to change the profile slightly to make the hill safer and allow more jumpers to land properly. No standard profiles existed at the time, so the Association for the Promotion of Skiing had to do guesswork to create a better profile. The new profile was taken into use from 1894 and had cost NOK 2000. For the first decade, the take-off was rebuilt for every year, and its position would therefore vary. In 1904, the take-off was rebuilt with rocks, giving it a specific location on the hill. Prior to the 1907 season, landing slope was built down slightly into the terrain down from the 25 meter mark, as it would give easier landing. The take-off was moved in 1910 and built as a 2-meter (6 ft 7 in) tall stone structure.^[5] To keep the lake with a hard layer of ice, the snow was removed as it fell; if the ice was not thick enough it could create problems with flooding the spectator areas during the events.^[4] From 1913, the lake was opened as a skating rink and marketed by the hotels as part of their services.^[9] However, it was never a success, and was abandoned within a few years.^[10]

During the 1910s it had become common in the United States to build jumps with a scaffold superstructure for the in-run, and this had been described as an abomination in the Norwegian press. Prior to the 1914 season, a 10-meter (33 ft) tall steel superstructure was built.^[5] This resulted in massive negative reactions in the press, and it was the public's opinion that ski jumping was to be done in natural hills. The same year, two other major Norwegian hills received similar structures, Nydalsbakken and Solbergbakken. The first trials were made on 15 January, giving jumps 34 meters. This was regarded as the furthest anyone would jump.^[11] The hill was subsequently expanded slightly a few times afterwards, including blasting it steeper, chopping it wider, and covering the landing slope with earth and sowing grass to improve the profile.^[12]

In-run in 1934, after the second scaffold had been erected

Olympic hill

The day after the race in 1927, the superstructure collapsed, caused by rot in combination with a heavy snowfall. This caused the introduction of public control with scaffolding and bleachers in Norway. By then, Holmenkollbakken was lagging behind internationally, and the world record at the time had exceeded 60 meters. It was therefore decided that a new superstructure would be 19 meters (62 ft) tall and moved 9 meters (30 ft) further back.^[12] Besserudtjernet was partially drained in 1928, but the hotels, which received their water from the lake, would not allow draining the following years.^[13] In 1931, the lake was fully drained, which allowed the out-run to be longer.^[12] In the 1930s, talk of an 80-meter hill started, which would potentially be built in Rødkleiva, further out in Nordmarka. The Association for the Promotion of Skiing made a formal investigation into the matter in 1937.^[14] There was agreement that the venue was becoming too small for international competitions.^[15]

Following the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1940 being awarded to Oslo, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing decided to build a larger in-run. Construction started in 1938 and consisted of a 40-meter (130 ft) tall in-run tower. The take-off was moved 12 meters (39 ft) further back and 6 meters (20 ft) higher. The new structure was inaugurated in 1940, although the World Championships were canceled due to the Second World War. The venue was subsequently left unused for five years during the German occupation of Norway. German forces used the hill as a site for anti-aircraft artillery and the in-run was painted green. In 1945, the venue received a new upgrade, this time with new grandstands and a larger profile.^[15]

The hill in 1952, one week after the 1952 Winter Olympics had been held there

In 1948, Oslo was awarded to host the 1952 Winter Olympics. This caused a bonanza of plans, one superseding the other.^[15] Until then, the grandstand on the sides of the hill had been temporary; prior to the Olympics these were rebuilt as permanent.^[16] A new grandstand was built, a jury tower was constructed, as was facilities for the delegates, the royal family and radio broadcasting.^[15] The in-run was rebuilt; while it previously had been a mess of open, wooden structures, it was shelled in, painted white and received an elevator.^[17] The hill had to be expanded, and to allow this, the landing slope needed to be lifted by being built as an artificial structure. Below the lifted part of the hill was built a three-story building, with the ski museum in the lower two floors and a restaurant in the top floor.^[16] The lake was dug 6 meters (20 ft) deep and made a swimming pool during the summer. The upgrades cost NOK 1.5 million, paid for by Oslo Municipality.^[17] These upgrades resulted in an artificial lake being constructed in the off-run, which became a recreational and swimming venue for the city's residents. The lake was at the time 3 meters (9.8 ft) deep and had a typical temperature of 10 °C (50 °F).^[18] Oslo had a failed bid for the 1968 Winter Olympics.^[19]

Following Oslo's decision to bid for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1966, it became evident that more upgrades would be needed to meet the International Ski Federation's requirements. To allow for longer jumps, the take-off needed to be moved 10 meters (33 ft) back, and the lake dug deeper, with new concrete stands being built into the sides. Combined with the tower being built taller, this gave a 56-meter (184 ft) height difference between the start and the off-run, allowing for the desired lengths. The championships were the first to use computer to calculate the scores, but communication still used wired telephones, as had been used during the Olympics. The public announcement and scoreboard systems remained manual.^[17]

The hill during the summer of 1975

By 1971, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing was no longer making much money off the Ski Festival, and they started discussing rebuilding the entire complex. Rolf Ramm Østgaard made a proposal which would include a twin hill, with both a normal and large hill. Again the proposal of building the large hill at Rødkleiva was launched. The arguments for keeping the hill at Holmenkollen was that it would allow for a close connection between the ski jumping and cross-country skiing events. However, Holmenkollen, because it was built with a superstructure, was plagued with wind. Experience from among other things Salpausselkä in Lahti, Finland, showed that this could be partially combated by building the jump into the hill. No immediate solution was found, and maintenance of the old structure continued.^[17] Lighting which allowed the venue to be seen from the city during night was installed in 1977. The main problem was the elevator, which was eventually replaced in 1978.^[20] During the 1970s, a stage was built in the lake, which allowed concerts, plays and other entertainment events to take place.^[21] Oslo City Council considered bidding for the 1980 Winter Olympics during the 1970s, but it was found that it would not be a suitable investment.^[19]

In 1979, Oslo was awarded the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1982, and further upgrades to the hill were necessary. The costs of the upgrades were NOK 50 million, of which the Norwegian Ski Federation paid NOK 5 million, and Oslo Municipality and the state split the rest.^[20] The large expenditures resulted in a public debate.^[22] The upgrades saw the introduction of electronics into most parts of the venue. The old system of manual distance measurement by people standing beside the hill was abolished, and replaced by the video-based system Robotron. Other new installations was an electronic result and scoreboard system, a new time-keeping and speed system, and a new central system to calculate scores.^[20] The in-run was expanded, and a mobile start platform was installed, but later removed and replaced by a bar. The knoll and landing slope were adjusted, and the straight section was moved 10 meters (33 ft) further down. In the transition to the out-run, 130,000 cubic meters (4,600,000 cu ft) of earthwork was blasted away, and Besserudtjernet was sunk another 7 meters (23 ft). This allowed for additional grandstands to be built and the last wooden grandstands were removed. New structures were built for delegates, broadcasting and the jury.^[23]

The in-run in 2007

The Robotron system was found to be unreliable, and was taken out of use in 1986.^[23] In 1990, a porcelain track was laid in the in-run.^[24] An aluminum stage was also built across the off-run, which could be used for concerts during the summer.^[21] In 1992, the hill was further expanded by digging down another 3.5 meters (11 ft). This increased the K-point from 105 to 110. From 1992, the venue used a system of video still images to determine the length.^[24] Following the decision to upgrade the hill in 1991, Kollenhopp was established. A cooperation between the ski jumping clubs in Eastern Norway, it was to create more jumping activity in Holmenkollbakken, similar to the success of Trønderhopp.^[25] From 1992, the hill received floodlighting, allowing events to be scheduled into the evening, and the organizers able to move events to the evening, if wind conditions were not good during the day.^[20]

New hill

In 2002, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing and the city started the process of applying for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009.^[26] The city council decided to grant NOK 52.8 million to upgrade Holmenkollen, including Holmenkollbakken, for the 2009 World Championships.^[27] Oslo lost the vote in the International Ski Federation (FIS) against Liberec, Czech Republic, on 4 June 2004. The Norwegian Ski Federation subsequently stated that they would apply for the 2011 World Championships.^[28] The Association for the Promotion of Skiing stated that they wanted a new hill in Rødkleiva instead of expanding the existing ski flying hill in Vikersund, Vikersundbakken. Holmenkollbakken would then be used for the last time as a large hill during the 2011 World Championships, and would then converted to a normal hill.^[29] In May 2005, the general assembly of the Norwegian Ski Federation voted to build a new ski flying and normal hill in Rødkleiva ahead of the 2011 World Championships.^[30] Following Vikersundbakken being awarded the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 2012 in 2008, the general assembly of the Norwegian Ski Federation that year decided to terminate the plans for a ski flying hill in Rødkleiva.^[31]

On 22 September 2005, FIS stated that an all-new Holmenkollbakken would have to be built if Oslo was to host the World Championships and World Cup tournaments. FIS stated that similar reconstructions had been done with Schattenbergschanze in Oberstdorf, Germany, and Bergiselschanze in Innsbrück, Austria.^[32] In December 2005, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage gave permission for the tower to be demolished, on the condition it was replaced by a new in-run with a similar architectural quality and retain its function as a landmark. They stated that it was the activity itself that is worthy of preservation, not the structure itself.^[33] The city council made the final decision to apply for the World Championships and build a new hill on 1 March 2006. A new hill was at the time estimated to cost NOK 310 million, and the state was willing to finance NOK 70 million of those.^[34] Oslo was awarded the 2011 World Championships in May 2006.^[35]

The new hill during construction; the ski stadium is in the foreground

The municipality issued an architectural design competition to rebuild the hill; Julien De Smedt's proposal was selected among 104 entrants.^[36] At the time, it was estimated that the new national arena would cost NOK 653 million.^[27] Demolition of Holmenkollbakken started on 16 October 2008.^[37] The World Cup tournament in 2009 was held at Vikersundbakken instead of Holmenkollen because of the reconstruction. By 2008, the cost had accelerated to NOK 1.2 billion, and by the following year it had reached NOK 1.8 billion. City Commissioner For Business and Culture, Anette Wiig Bryn of the Progress Party, had to leave her position because of the cost overruns. A consultant report ordered by the municipality concluded that the pressure to find cost savings to stay within the budget, which was underestimated to start with, resulted in slower progress, which again resulted in higher costs.^[27]

The costs of the new large hill were NOK 715 million, while total costs for the upgrade of the national arena and infrastructure ended at NOK 2,426 million. This included the construction of a new ski stadium next to Holmenkollbakken, and Midtstubakken, and upgrades to the Holmenkollen Line.^[38] It was originally decided that the first jump would be taken by Anette Sagen, Norway's leading female jumper, on 3 March 2010. However, the organizers decided that Bjørn Einar Romøren would be allowed to test-jump the venue the evening before. In the first ever jump in the new venue, Romøren jumped 110.0 meters. The organizers stated that Sagen's jump the following day, which reached 106.5 meters, was to be considered the official first jump.^[39] Romøren was subsequently suspended from the following World Cup round.^[40]

Ladies

Date	Competition	Winner	Second	Third
12 March 2000	HSF	Daniela Iraschko	Eva Ganster	Helena Olsson
11 March 2001	HSF	Daniela Iraschko	Henriette Smeby	Eva Ganster
17 March 2002	HSF	Helena Olsson	Daniela Iraschko	Henriette Smeby
9 March 2003	HSF	Daniela Iraschko	Anette Sagen	Helena Olsson
17 March 2013	WC	Sarah Hendrickson	Sara Takanashi	Jacqueline Seifriedsberger
8 March 2014	WC	Sara Takanashi	Katja Požun	Yūki Itō
13 March 2015	WC	Sara Takanashi	Sarah Hendrickson	Taylor Henrich
4 February 2016	WC	Sara Takanashi	Maren Lundby	Irina Avvakumova
12 March 2017	WC	Yūki Itō	Sara Takanashi	Maren Lundby
11 March 2018	WC	Maren Lundby	Daniela Iraschko-Stolz	Yūki Itō

Men

In 1896 the cross-country part of Nordic combined was cancelled and ski jumping counted as final result. Ski jumping events listed only:

Date	Competition	Winner	Second	Third
24 February 1896	HSF–NCO	Sigurd Svendsen	Frimann Dahl	Robert Pehrson
28 February 1930	NWSC	Gunnar Andersen	Reidar Andersen	Sigmund Ruud
5 March 1933	HSF	Arne B. Christiansen	Reidar Andersen	Sverre Ruud
4 March 1934	HSF	Birger Ruud	Roar Hellum	Hans Kleppen
3 March 1935	HSF	Hans Beck	Sven Eriksson	Bjarne Bryntesen
1 March 1936	HSF	Reidar Andersen	Sigurd Sollid	Arnholdt Kongsgård
28 February 1937	HSF	Reidar Andersen	Sven Selånger	Birger Ruud
6 March 1938	HSF	Reidar Andersen	Arnholdt Kongsgård	Hilmar Myhra
5 March 1939	HSF	Sven Selånger	Kaare Wahlberg	Hilmar Myhra
3 March 1940	HSF	Hilmar Myhra	Reidar Andersen	Jens Østby
1941–1945	HSF	no competition; World War II
3 March 1946	HSF	Asbjørn Ruud	Thorleif Schjelderup	Yngvar Myhra
2 March 1947	HSF	Georg Thrane	Henry Amdal	Asbjørn Ruud
7 March 1948	HSF	Arne Hoel	Thorleif Schjelderup	Petter Hugsted
6 March 1949	HSF	Torbjørn Falkanger	Matti Pietikäinen	Jens Østby
5 March 1950	HSF	Torbjørn Falkanger	Hans Bjørnstad	Petter Hugsted
25 February 1951	HSF	Arne Hoel	Georg Thrane	Sepp Bradl
24 February 1952	OWG	Arnfinn Bergmann	Torbjørn Falkanger	Karl Holmström
9 March 1952	HSF	Arnfinn Bergmann	Christian Mohn	Arne Hoel Halvor Næs
1 March 1953	HSF	Otto Austad	Torbjørn Falkanger Sverre Stallvik
7 March 1954	HSF	strong wind
4 April 1954	ELE	Arne Hoel	Halvor Næs	Christian Mohn
6 March 1955	HSF	Aulis Kallakorpi	Eino Kirjonen Torbjørn Falkanger
26 February 1956	HSF	Antti Hyvärinen	Arne Hoel	Aulis Kallakorpi Werner Lesser
3 March 1957	HSF	Helmut Recknagel	Eino Kirjonen	Juhani Kärkinen
16 March 1958	HSF	Nikolay Kamenskiy	Helmut Recknagel	Rudolf Bykov Otto Leodolter
8 March 1959	HSF	Arne Hoel	Inge Lindqvist Nikolay Kamenskiy
20 March 1960	HSF	Helmut Recknagel	Toralf Engan	Max Bolkart
12 March 1961	HSF	Nikolaj Sjamov	Hemmo Silvennoinen	Nikolay Kamenskiy
18 March 1962	HSF	Toralf Engan	Willi Egger Veikko Kankkonen
17 March 1963	HSF	Torbjørn Yggeseth	John Balfanz	Kjell Sjöberg
15 March 1964	HSF	Veikko Kankkonen	Toralf Engan	Bjørn Wirkola
14 March 1965	HSF	Dieter Neuendorf	Lars Grini	Toralf Engan
27 February 1966	NWSC	Bjørn Wirkola	Takashi Fujisawa	Kjell Sjöberg
5 March 1967	HSF	Bjørn Wirkola	Bent Tomtum	Max Golser
17 March 1968	HSF	Vladimir Belousov	Bjørn Wirkola	Ludvik Zajc
16 March 1969	HSF	Topi Mattila	Gjert Andersen	Jiří Raška
15 March 1970	HSF	Vladimir Belousov	Garij Napalkov	Rudolf Höhnl
14 March 1971	HSF	Ingolf Mork	Yukio Kasaya	Walter Steiner
12 March 1972	HSF	Ingolf Mork	Hans Schmid	Akitsugu Konno
18 March 1973	HSF	Hans Schmid	Hans-Georg Aschenbach	Leoš Škoda
10 March 1974	HSF	Walter Steiner	Yukio Kasaya	Finn Halvorsen
9 March 1975	HSF	Toni Innauer	Odd Hammernes	Alfred Grosche
14 March 1976	HSF	Karl Schnabl	Toni Innauer	Johan Sætre
13 March 1977	HSF	Aleksej Borovitin	Thomas Meisinger	Walter Steiner
12 March 1978	HSF	Harald Duschek	Johan Sætre	Peter Leitner
11 March 1979	HSF	Per Bergerud	Johan Sætre	Valerij Savin
16 March 1980	WC	Armin Kogler	Jari Puikkonen	Hubert Neuper
15 March 1981	WC	Roger Ruud	Horst Bulau	Johan Sætre
26 February 1982	NWSC / WC–T	Norway Johan Sætre Per Bergerud Ole Bremseth Olav Hansson	Austria Hans Wallner Hubert Neuper Armin Kogler Andreas Felder	Finland Keijo Korhonen Jari Puikkonen Pentti Kokkonen Matti Nykänen
28 February 1982	NWSC–I	Matti Nykänen	Olav Hansson	Armin Kogler
13 March 1983	WC	Steinar Bråten	Horst Bulau	Armin Kogler
11 March 1984	WC	Vladimír Podzimek	Pavel Ploc	Ole Christian Eidhammer
10 March 1985	WC	Matti Nykänen	Franz Wiegele	Gérard Balanche
16 March 1986	WC	Ernst Vettori	Matti Nykänen	Andreas Felder
22 March 1987	WC	Andreas Felder	Ari-Pekka Nikkola	Miran Tepeš
20 March 1988	WC	Erik Johnsen	Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl	Günther Stranner
5 March 1989	WC	Jens Weißflog	Jon Inge Kjørum	Kent Johanssen
18 March 1990	HSF	Jens Weißflog	Andreas Felder	Pavel Ploc
17 March 1991	WC	Ernst Vettori	Stefan Horngacher	Staffan Tällberg
15 March 1992	WC	Toni Nieminen	Jiří Parma	Martin Höllwarth
14 March 1993	WC	Espen Bredesen	Didier Mollard	Jaroslav Sakala
13 March 1994	WC	strong wind
12 March 1995	WC	Andreas Goldberger	Takanobu Okabe	Jens Weißflog
15 March 1996	WC–T	Austria Martin Höllwarth Reinhard Schwarzenberger Andreas Widhölzl Andreas Goldberger	Norway Pål Hansen Sturle Holseter Espen Bredesen Roar Ljøkelsøy	Germany Gerd Siegmund Michael Uhrmann Christof Duffner Jens Weißflog
17 March 1996	WC	Adam Małysz	Janne Ahonen	Masahiko Harada
16 March 1997	WC	Kazuyoshi Funaki	Hiroya Saitō	Bruno Reuteler
15 March 1998	WC	Primož Peterka	Bruno Reuteler	Masahiko Harada
14 March 1999	WC	Noriaki Kasai	Martin Schmitt	Kazuyoshi Funaki
12 March 2000	WC	Sven Hannawald	Ville Kantee	Janne Ahonen
11 March 2001	WC	Adam Małysz	Stefan Horngacher	Martin Schmitt
17 March 2002	WC	Simon Ammann	Sven Hannawald	Adam Małysz
8 March 2003	WC–T	Austria Florian Liegl Thomas Morgenstern Christian Nagiller Andreas Widhölzl	Finland Matti Hautamäki Veli-Matti Lindström Tami Kiuru Arttu Lappi	Germany Michael Uhrmann Martin Schmitt Sven Hannawald Georg Späth
9 March 2003	WC	Adam Małysz	Roar Ljøkelsøy Florian Liegl
14 March 2004	WC	Roar Ljøkelsøy	Simon Ammann	Bjørn Einar Romøren
13 March 2005	WC	Matti Hautamäki	Bjørn Einar Romøren	Michael Uhrmann
12 March 2006	WC	Adam Małysz	Thomas Morgenstern	Andreas Kofler
17 March 2007	WC	Adam Małysz	Andreas Küttel	Anders Bardal
18 March 2007	WC	Simon Ammann	Martin Koch	Matti Hautamäki
9 March 2008	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer	Tom Hilde	Bjørn Einar Romøren
2009	WC	under renovation; substituted with Vikersund
14 March 2010	WC	Simon Ammann	Adam Małysz	Andreas Kofler
(night) 3 March 2011	NWSC–I	Gregor Schlierenzauer	Thomas Morgenstern	Simon Ammann
5 March 2011	NWSC–T	Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Martin Koch Andreas Kofler Thomas Morgenstern	Norway Anders Jacobsen Johan Remen Evensen Anders Bardal Tom Hilde	Slovenia Peter Prevc Jurij Tepeš Jernej Damjan Robert Kranjec
11 March 2012	WC	Martin Koch	Severin Freund	Robert Kranjec
17 March 2013	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer Piotr Żyła		Robert Kranjec
9 March 2014	WC	Severin Freund	Anders Bardal	Kamil Stoch
(night) 14 March 2015	WC	Severin Freund	Peter Prevc	Rune Velta
15 March 2015	WC	Severin Freund	Noriaki Kasai	Peter Prevc Kamil Stoch
(night) 6 February 2016	WC–T	Slovenia Jurij Tepeš Domen Prevc Robert Kranjec Peter Prevc	Norway Daniel-André Tande Anders Fannemel Johann André Forfang Kenneth Gangnes	Japan Taku Takeuchi Kento Sakuyama Daiki Itō Noriaki Kasai
7 February 2016	WC	heavy fog; replaced by ski flying event in Vikersund
10 March 2017	WC/RA(Q)–prol.	Andreas Wellinger	Peter Prevc	Richard Freitag
11 March 2017	WC/RA–T	Austria Michael Hayböck Manuel Fettner Markus Schiffner Stefan Kraft	Germany Markus Eisenbichler Stephan Leyhe Richard Freitag Andreas Wellinger	Poland Piotr Żyła Kamil Stoch Dawid Kubacki Maciej Kot
12 March 2017	WC/RA–I	Stefan Kraft	Andreas Wellinger	Markus Eisenbichler
9 March 2018	WC/RA(Q)–prol.	Kamil Stoch	Robert Johansson	Richard Freitag
10 March 2018	WC/RA–T	Norway Daniel-André Tande Andreas Stjernen Johann André Forfang Robert Johansson	Poland Maciej Kot Stefan Hula Jr. Dawid Kubacki Kamil Stoch	Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Clemens Aigner Michael Hayböck Stefan Kraft
11 March 2018	WC/RA–I	Daniel-André Tande	Stefan Kraft	Michael Hayböck

Ski jumper in 1924

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is an annual Nordic skiing event which takes places at Holmenkollen. Until 1932, jumping was part of Nordic combined, and the events were completely dominated by Norwegians.^[48] In 1903, Oslo hosted its only version of the Nordic Games, dubbed the Winter Sports Week. Regarded as the precursor of the Winter Olympics, the event featured among other things ski jumping in Holmenkollbakken.^[49] The Ski Festival was first held on a Sunday in 1926.^[50] Starting in 1933, there was a pure ski jumping competition, which made it easier for foreign jumping specialists to compete for the top positions.^[48] Originally, the style scores were secret, creating public discussions about the fairness of judges in even races. This was changed in 1951, when the style scores started being announced over the PA system.^[51]

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival has been regarded as the de facto World Championships prior to the 1924 Winter Olympics. The Norwegian Ski Federation had been an opponent of establishing World Championships and Winter Olympics because they felt it would take away the prestige of the Ski Festival.^[52] Oslo was awarded the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1930; with exception of Sweden's Erik Rylandet who finished fifth, Norway had the top ten positions.^[53]

Holmenkollen was the venue of the Nordic skiing during the 1952 Winter Olympics. Two events were held at Holmenkollbakken: ski jumping and the jumping part of Nordic combined. The exact number of people attending the ski jumping event on 24 February is not known, but it somewhere between 120,000 and 150,000,^[54] with the official report stating 143,000.^[55] The event was won by Arnfinn Bergmann ahead of Torbjørn Falkanger, both from Norway, and Karl Holmström of Sweden.^[56]

The off-run during the 2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup; the stage is mounted above the off-run

The next World Championship was held in 1966. By then both normal and large hill competitions had been introduced, and the normal hill competition would be held at Midtstubakken, as they would later also be done in 1982 and 2011.^[57] The 1966 large hill competition was won by Norway's Bjørn Wirkola,^[58] while the 1982 event was won by Matti Nykänen of Finland.^[59]

From the 1979–80 season, FIS introduced the Ski Jumping World Cup.^[60] The FIS Nordic Combined World Cup was first held in the 1983–84 season. By 1990, a conflict had arisen between the ski jumpers and the International Ski Federation. On the day of the Ski Festival, the jumpers collectively demanded NOK 150,000 in increased prize money, or threatened to not jump. It was stated that the money would be used for charity, such as resurrecting Romanian ski jumping. The demand was rejected by the organizers, who stated that they would have to disqualify the jumpers, as they would be regarded as professionals, rather than amateurs.^[61] Since 1997, the World Cup jumps in Holmenkollen have been part of the Nordic Tournament, which includes four successive jumps in four Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish ski jumps, inspired by the Four Hills Tournament.^[62]

During summer, the old hill had a lake, which made it possible to use the amphitheater for concerts, plays and entertainment. The venue was then often referred to as Sommerkollen.^[21] From 1963, a temporary, small in-run was built down the southern grandstand, which allowed skiers and divers to make a jump and land in the water. Between 1963 and 1983, a competition was held nine times.^[18] Starting in 1983 was Ta sjansen, which was televised annually by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and became Sommerkollen's most popular show. It was an informal competition with two main events: one where a home-made craft was to first slide down a short in-run and then slide along the water surface to hit a mounted bell in the shortest possible time. The other was a cycling competition where the cyclist had to complete a track on a wobbly floating wharf.^[21]