Vikersund

Vikersund is a small village at Tyrifjorden 80 km north of Norway’s capitol Oslo. Since the foundation of Vikersund IF in 1894 until 1935 the ski club had been hosting its ski jumping competitions on six different ski jumping hills.

In 1934 a committee was announced, whose goal was to find a well located hill for a new ski jump near Vikersund. This new ski jumping hill, which was opened with a 86 meter jump of Reidar Andersen, was inaugurated in February 1936.

This ski jump of Vikersund has been enlarged twice since its early days, at first in 1956, after that in 1964/65 into a ski flying hill, after a long and hard fight for the status as Norway’s ski flying hill with Rena IL at Østerdalen. In March 1966 the new ski flying hill was inaugurated and Bjørn Wirkola’s new world record lighted through the whole skiing world in this year.

Later on the flying hill was converted several times, but the wind conditions at Vikersundbakken always made many problems during flying competitions. The last conversion of the ski flying hill took place for ski flying world championships in 2000, when it was enlarged into a complete K185 profiled hill, on which one can jump up to 220 meters. Although Sven Hannawald fell at 214 meters in 2000, he became world champion.

The potentials of Vikersund were demonstrated during the first COC ski flying in 2004, when Austria’s Roland Müller flew 219 meters. This new hill record was unique, but Roland Müller even announced that it would be possible jump even some meters longer.

Then in 2004/2005 a project of a new ski flying hill at Rødkleiva near Oslo was published and Vikersund had to have serious doubts about longer being Norway’s national ski flying facility and general ski flying location. But today this plans are temporarily put on hold and at World Cup Ski Flying 2007 Austria’s Martin Koch even landed on 220.5 m during training, but couldn’t stand it.

In spring 2010 the old inrun tower was demolished and the hill was rebuilt. It is now a HS 225. Already on the first day of ski flying on the new hill new world records were set. First Norwegian Johan Remen Evensen jumped on 243 m in training and an hour later he landed at 246.5 m in the qualification.

Johan Remen Evensen held the world record for four years, Peter Prevc improved it to the historic mark of 250 m on February 14th, 2015, before Anders Fannemel jumped on 251.5 m only a day later.

The ski jumping facility of Vikersund doesn’t only consist of the ski flying hill, there is a normal hill ski jump K90 (HS 100), too, which regularly hosts Continental Cup competitions of men and women, as well as training hills K65, K45, K25, K15, K10.