Vikersundbakken

In 1894, Vikersund SK was established and started with ski jumping. Until the 1930s, they used six different ski jumping hills around the area. By then, the club had fostered sufficiently good jumpers that it was proposed to build a proper hill. A committee was established on 19 March 1935 and led by Gustav N. Hovde. At first they found a suitable location north of Heggen. However, they failed to reach an agreement with the land owner. Instead, Hovde proposed using the steep hill close to Heggen Church. After purchasing the land, construction started later in 1935. The original hill was designed by Thunold Hansen. Construction cost 6,290 Norwegian krone (NOK), of which NOK 1000 was borrowed and the rest of financed through private donations.[6]

The first hill had a length from the top of the in-run to the bottom of the out-run of 425 meters (1,394 ft) and an elevation difference of 130 meters (430 ft). The in-run was 115 meters (377 ft) long and had an elevation difference of 46 meters (151 ft).[6] The hill was inaugurated on 29 January 1936 with a 50-meter jump by Birger Henriksen. The longest jump on the opening day was made by Reidar Andersen, who jumped 86 meters. At the most he was 10 to 12 meters (33 to 39 ft) above the landing slope, so the take-off was lowered 40 centimeters (16 in) from 6 to 11 degrees.[7]

The main logistical issue with the events was the poor transport service, with only a narrow road to the hill. During the 1950s, the attendance rose well beyond the former 5,000, forcing the road to be upgraded in 1955.[8] By the 1950s, ski jumps were being built larger and in 1954, Kristian Hovde proposed to expand Vikersundbakken, which he hoped would allow jumps of 100 meters (330 ft). The plans were passed by the club's annual meeting on 13 September, with construction starting in the summer of 1955. The lower part of the landing slope was dug down 1.75 meters (5 ft 9 in), the in-run was raised up to 85 centimeters (33 in) and a new jury tower and stairway was built. Additional expansion was passed on 27 April 1956: a 12-meter (39 ft) tall scaffolding in-run was built on top of the old in-run. The hill was designed by Carl Borgen. Contractors were Brødrene Teigen and since the club did not have sufficient funds, they were willing to wait with the payment until they had. The new hill was inaugurated on 10 March 1956.[9]

The new hill was too large to be regarded as a large hill, but was not large enough to be categorized as a ski flying hill. In 1964, the club appointed a committee led by Ottar Grøtterud to consider an expansion of the hill.[10] There was only to be built one ski flying hill in the Nordic Countries, with the main alternative being Renabakken in Rena.[11] Construction cost NOK 445,000 and was in part financed with a NOK 75,000 grant and NOK 150,000 loan from Modum Municipality, NOK 20,000 from volunteer work, NOK 80,000 from the club, grants from companies and banks and from Buskerud County Municipality, and NOK 100,000 in betting funds.[12] Construction was done by Entreprenør Gunnar Sterkebye. The hill received a new 23-meter (75 ft) tall in-run and a new jury tower 70 meters (230 ft) form the jump. On the landing slope and out-run, 200,000 cubic meters (7,100,000 cu ft) of earthwork had to be moved. Work was made more difficult because of high snowfall and temperatures down to −28 °C (−18 °F). The hill was inaugurated on 13 March 1966.[13]

The next upgrade of the venue were minor upgrades ahead of the 1977 World Championships.[13] Ahead of the 1990 World Championships, the venue was again renovated. However, to secure better recruitment, the venue also received a new normal hill with a K point of K-90.[14]

The hill was rebuilt for the 2012 Ski Flying World Championships. It was the first in the world with a hill size of 225 meters, making Vikersundbakken the largest ski flying hill in the world at the time. It has been built further into the terrain with sidewalls made of natural gravel to avoid wind problems during competitions. Furthermore, it has been slanted slightly to the south from the inrun area to further reduce wind problems. The hill was ready for the 2011 Trial Ski Flying World Championships held on 11–13 February 2011.

The old inrun was demolished in 2010. The engineers of the new and larger hill were Slovenians Janez Gorišek and his son Sebastjan. Janez, together with his brother Lado, is most famous for creating Letalnica Bratov Gorišek in Planica, previously the largest hill in the world at HS 215, before Vikersundbakken was reprofiled and enlarged in 2011. Janez is usually named as the 'father' of modern ski flying and is also known as an expert on ski flying hills.

At the trial ski flying championship, Johan Remen Evensen jumped 243 meters to set a new world record during the first official training on 11 February 2011. Later, during qualification, Evensen improved the world record to 246.5 meters.

During autumn 2011 the hill was further improved with a different radius at HS 225, increasing the ability to stand on greater lengths. Additionally the jump itself was cut a meter short because of decreased inrun speed needed by the jumpers. During the 2011 event, it was deemed necessary to add several inrun gates the hill below gate 1 due to better conditions not anticipated by the organisers during construction in 2010. A total of five gates were added. Gregor Schlierenzauer praised the hill during interviews, calling it the best hill in the world. Evensen was also extremely satisfied with the hill, calling it "perfect". The K point was increased from K-195 in 2012 to K-200 in time for the 2015 event,[15] resulting in two new world records on the same weekend: Peter Prevc jumped 250 m (820 ft) and became to first to ever surpass the 250 m mark, and this was followed by Anders Fannemel with 251.5 m (825 ft) the next day. In a training round prior to Fannemel's jump, Dimitry Vassiliev jumped 254 m (833 ft) but fell hard upon landing, rendered his jump invalid as a world record.

Opened as large hill in 1936 and converted into flying hill in 1966.

Date	Hillsize	Competition	Winner	Second	Third align=right|
LARGE HILL (original)
16 February 1936		OP	Hilmar Myhra
1937		VIKC	Reidar Andersen
1938		VIKC
1939		VIKC
1940		VIKC	Reidar Andersen
17 February 1946		VIKC	Arnholdt Kongsgård	Reidar Andersen	Vidar Lindboe-Hansen
9 March 1947		VIKC	Thorleif Schjelderup	Svein Haakonsen	Hans Kaarstein
14 March 1948		VIKC	Arnholdt Kongsgård	Ivar Nilsen	Christian Mohn
1949		VIKC	cancelled
19 March 1950		VIKC	Hans Bjørnstad	Ivar Nilsen	Birger Arnesen
18 February 1951		VIKC	Kjell Knarvik	Arne Hoel	Reidar Andersen
2 March 1952		VIKC	Arnfinn Bergmann	Arne Hoel	Svein Lien
8 March 1953		VIKC	Georg Thrane	Per Thyness	Thorleif Schjelderup
28 February 1954		VIKC	Asgeir Dølplads
3 April 1954		NRA
13 March 1955		VIKC	wind; rescheduled to 26 March
26 March 1955		VIKC	Arnfinn Karlstad	Simon Slåttvik	Erling Kroken
4 March 1956		VIKC	Asbjørn Osnes
10 March 1957		VIKC	Arne Hoel	Simon Slåttvik	Asbjørn Osnes
15 March 1958		VIKC
1 March 1959		VIKC	Arne Hoel	Odd A. Brevik	Olinius Skaaret
27 March 1960		VIKC	Markku Maatela	Paavo Lukkariniemi	Asbjørn Osnes
5 March 1961		VIKC	Olinius Skaaret
4 March 1962		VIKC	Asbjørn Osnes	Pekka Remes	Vesa Ekholm
10 March 1963		VIKC	Torbjørn Yggeseth	Torgeir Brandtzæg	Raimo Vitikainen
8 March 1964		VIKC	Toralf Engan	Bjørn Wirkola	Christoffer Selbekk
FLYING HILL (converted)
13 March 1966		VIKC	Bjørn Wirkola	Toralf Engan	Christoffer Selbekk
11-12 March 1967		ISFW	Reinhold Bachler	Jiří Raška	Bjørn Wirkola
10 March 1968		KOP	strong wind
8-9 March 1969		KOP	Bjørn Wirkola	Jiří Raška	Zbyněk Hubač
27-28 February 1971		KOP	Frithjof Prydz	Zbyněk Hubač	Bent Tomtum
11-18 February 1973		KOP	lack of snow
22-23 February 1975		KOP	Reinhold Bachler	Hans Wallner	Edi Federer
18 February 1977	K150	SFWC	Walter Steiner	Anton Innauer	Henry Glaß
29 February - 2 March 1980	K155	WC	Per Bergerud	Stanisław Bobak	Ján Tánczos
18 February 1983	K155	WC	Matti Nykänen	Pavel Ploc	Hans Wallner
19 February 1983	K155	WC	Matti Nykänen	Horst Bulau	Tuomo Ylipulli
20 February 1983	K155	WC	Matti Nykänen	Olav Hansson	Pavel Ploc
15 February 1986	K155	WC	Andreas Felder	Matti Nykänen	Piotr Fijas
16 February 1986	K155	WC	Andreas Felder	Ernst Vettori	Matti Nykänen
25 February 1990	K175	SFWC	Dieter Thoma	Matti Nykänen	Jens Weißflog
20 March 1993	K175	WC	cancelled
21 March 1993	K175	WC
18 February 1995	K175	WC	Andreas Goldberger	Takanobu Okabe	Lasse Ottesen
19 February 1995	K175	WC	Andreas Goldberger	Takanobu Okabe	Roberto Cecon
28 February 1998	K175	WC	postponed on next day
1 March 1998	K175	WC	Andreas Widhölzl	Sven Hannawald	Akira Higashi
1 March 1998	K175	WC	Takanobu Okabe	Hiroya Saito	Noriaki Kasai
12-13 February 2000	K185	SFWC	original date; strong winds, postponed to 14 February
14 February 2000	K185	SFWC	Sven Hannawald	Andreas Widhölzl	Janne Ahonen
6 March 2004	K185	CC	Roland Müller	Olav Magne Dønnem	Balthasar Schneider
7 March 2004	K185	CC	Roland Müller	Balthasar Schneider	Martin Koch
13 January 2007	HS207	WC	cancelled
(night) 14 January 2007	HS207	WC	Anders Jacobsen	Thomas Morgenstern	Matti Hautamäki
(night) 14 March 2009	HS207	WC-T	Austria Martin Koch Wolfgang Loitzl Thomas Morgenstern Gregor Schlierenzauer	Finland Matti Hautamäki Kalle Keituri Ville Larinto Harri Olli	Norway Johan Remen Evensen Bjørn Einar Romøren Anders Bardal Anders Jacobsen
15 March 2009	HS207	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer	Simon Ammann	Dimitry Vassiliev
(night) 12 February 2011	HS225	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer Johan Remen Evensen		Simon Ammann
13 February 2011	HS225	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer	Johan Remen Evensen	Adam Małysz
(night) 25 February 2012	HS225	SFWC-I	Robert Kranjec	Rune Velta	Martin Koch
26 February 2012	HS225	SFWC-T	Austria Thomas Morgenstern Andreas Kofler Gregor Schlierenzauer Martin Koch	Germany Andreas Wank Richard Freitag Maximilian Mechler Severin Freund	Slovenia Jernej Damjan Jurij Tepeš Jure Šinkovec Robert Kranjec
(night) 26 February 2013	HS225	WC	Gregor Schlierenzauer	Simon Ammann	Robert Kranjec
27 February 2013	HS225	WC	Robert Kranjec	Michael Neumayer	Gregor Schlierenzauer
(night) 14 February 2015	HS225	WC	Peter Prevc	Anders Fannemel	Noriaki Kasai
15 February 2015	HS225	WC	Severin Freund	Anders Fannemel	Johann André Forfang
(night) 12 February 2016	HS225	WC	Robert Kranjec	Kenneth Gangnes	Noriaki Kasai
(night) 13 February 2016	HS225	WC	Peter Prevc	Johann André Forfang	Robert Kranjec
14 February 2016	HS225	WC	Peter Prevc	Stefan Kraft	Andreas Stjernen
17 March 2017	HS225	WC/RA(Q)–prol	Kamil Stoch	Andreas Wellinger	Domen Prevc
18 March 2017	HS225	WC/RA–T	Norway Daniel-André Tande Robert Johansson Johann André Forfang Andreas Stjernen	Poland Piotr Żyła Dawid Kubacki Maciej Kot Kamil Stoch	Austria Michael Hayböck Manuel Fettner Gregor Schlierenzauer Stefan Kraft
19 March 2017	HS225	WC/RA–I	Kamil Stoch	Noriaki Kasai	Michael Hayböck
16 March 2018	HS240	WC/RA(Q)–prol	Kamil Stoch	Robert Johansson	Andreas Stjernen
17 March 2018	HS240	WC/RA–T	Norway Daniel-André Tande Johann André Forfang Andreas Stjernen Robert Johansson	Poland Piotr Żyła Stefan Hula Jr. Dawid Kubacki Kamil Stoch	Slovenia Domen Prevc Jernej Damjan Tilen Bartol Peter Prevc
18 March 2018	HS240	WC/RA–I	Robert Johansson	Andreas Stjernen	Daniel-André Tande

The inaugural competition was held on 25 February 1936 in front of 5,000 spectators.[7] Hilmar Myhra won the race, setting the first official hill record at 86 meters (282 ft).[16] The hill was used for a single major competition each year, Vikersundrennet. Arnold Kongsgård beat the hill record in 1946 when he jumped 87.5 meters (287 ft) and then beat it with another meter two years later. The ultimate hill record in the original hill was 98 meters (322 ft), which was also a new Norwegian record, set by Arne Hoel in 1951.[17] After the opening of the new jump in 1957, Hoel set a new hill record of 100.5 meters (330 ft).[9] The following year, Asbjørn Osnes set a new hill record of 108.5 meters (356 ft) and then again in 1960 by Paavo Lukkariniemi of 116.5 meters (382 ft).[8]

On the first ski flying competition on 14 March 1966 saw Bjørn Wirkola set a new world record at 146 meters (479 ft).[13] Starting on 12 March 1967, the club introduced the International Ski Flying Week. The inaugural tournament was held on 12 March 1967[18] and saw Austria's Reinhold Bachler set a world record of 154 meters (505 ft). On 11 March 1968, the tournament was canceled due to strong winds, although 22,500 people had come to spectate.[19] In 1973, the International Ski Flying Week was canceled because of lack of snow.[13] On this hill were also two Continental Cup competitions in 2004 both won by Austrian Roland Müller.

In the late 1960s, the International Ski Federation (FIS) started planning a world championship in ski flying. The Norwegian Ski Federation was opposed to this.[20] Vikersundbakken was awarded the fourth FIS Ski Flying World Championships, held in 1977. Switzerland's Walter Steiner won the race, while Czechoslovakia's František Novák set a new hill record of 157 meters (515 ft). Vikersundbakken was used in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in 1980, 1983 and 1986.[21]

The normal hill was used for the Norwegian Ski Championships in 1989. As there was no snow, 3,000 cubic meters (110,000 cu ft) was freighted by train from Finse via the Bergen Line and up from Vikersund Station by truck.[22]

Bibliography

• Drolsum, Nils; Flattum, Odd; Lund, Thure (1994). Klang har navnet: Vikersund idrettsforening 1894–1994 (in Norwegian). Vikersund: Vikersund idrettsforening. ISBN 82-993278-0-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vikersundbakken.

• Official site
• The Skiflying Hill - Technical Data