Planica – cradle of Slovenian sport

In 1933 Bloudek and Rožman had hit upon the idea to erect a ski jump from which it would be possible to jump more than 100 m.

Way back in 1933, the engineers Stanko Bloudek and Ivan Rožman set off by train from Ljubljana to Rateče. Their final destination was the Planica valley. They had hit upon the idea of finding some location to erect and install a ski jump from which it would be possible to jump more than 100 m. The other locations they had checked out were not suitable.

Planica - an ideal valley for a ski jump

The snow queen Planica. Photo: Darinka Mladenovič

According to the pioneers of this sport from the upper Sava valley, Planica was an ideal valley for a ski jump. The two construction engineers inspected the valley, which was accessible at that time by a footpath, they determined the grade of the slope and the location, and the decision was made. The following spring, the first workers arrived with cartes, cleared the spruces and other trees and thereby started building the ski jump, which in the next two decades shaped a new branch of sport – ski flying.

First time over a hundred meters

Ski flyers realise the ancient human desire to fly like birds. Photo: Darinka Mladenovič

It was they who built the ski jump on which in 1936 the Austrian Sepp Bradl flew 101 metres, thereby becoming the first man to break what was in those times the magical barrier of a hundred metres. Ski flights became the major winter sports attraction, and right up until 1948, when the Swiss Fritz Tschannen flew 120 metres, Planica was the place of the longest ski flights.

Later ski flying jumps were also built in Germany, Austria and Norway, and the world record became the property of Oberstdorf , Kulm and Vikersund.

»Mammoth jump« - flights over 160 metres

In the middle of the sixties, the brothers Janez and Lado Gorišek revived Planica, and at a new location they constructed the “mammoth jump”, which facilitated flights of over 160 metres. In 1969 there was a spectacular opening, at which the world record was re-set five times. The heroes of flight were the Norwegian Bjoren Wirkola, the Czech Jiri Raška and German Manfred Wolf. On the final day of the flights, Wolf reached what was then an unbelievable 165 metres.

World known jumpers became heroes of Planica

Gradually other ski jumps were expanded, and new facilities were built in Harrachov in Czechoslovakia and Ironwood in the USA.

Planica gradually re-established ties with the biggest jumps, and from 1985 on the world record has had its home at the Planica giant built by the Gorišek brothers. Flyers such as Mike Holland, Matty Nykanen, Piort Fijas, Martin Hoellwarth, Toni Nieminen (the first to break the 200 metre barrier with a 203-metre flight), Espen Bredesen, Lasse Ottesen, Martin Schmitt, Tommy Ingebrigtsen, Thomas Hoerl, Andreas Goldberger, Matti Hautamaki and finally Bjoren Einar Romoeren became heroes of Planica, the most famous Slovenian valley in the world. In the time from 1969, when the jump was enlarged, to this year, events at Planica have been attended by more than 2.5 million spectators. The ski flights at Planica have become the biggest and most important sports event in Slovenia.

The week of flights at Planica - a national holiday

Planica, a festival of sport and the peak of winter sports. Photo: UKOM archive

Many people have called the week of flights at Planica a national holiday, a festival of sport and the peak of winter sports. In recent years Planica has hosted the conclusion of the World Cup seven times, and in this valley below Mt. Ponce one more sports sub-discipline has been born – team ski flying competitions. At Planica every sports person is welcome, especially those who hurtle down the inrun and launch themselves at speeds of over 100 km/h, rising around 8 metres above the ground and landing on the outrun at speeds of more than 115 km/h. Those who have flown off the Planica jump were always thrilled, many describing their flights as the high point of ski jumping and flying.

Planica has been visited by kings, emperors, prime ministers and presidents, and they were always welcome, no matter where they came from. During his visit to Planica, the former President of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, said: “This is the first time I have ever been dressed up for winter, with a hat and woollen gloves, and if I was younger, I would undoubtedly head off down the jump and fly … being like a bird in the jungle, here in the snow, which in my homeland we have never even seen.”

Just how big the Planica jump is can best be conveyed by the words of the one-time ski flying world record holder Matti Nykanen of Finland from 20 years ago: “When you get to the top of the ramp and you look down into the valley and the outrun, you get the feeling that you’re trying to jump onto a postage stamp. You hear the roaring of the 10,000-strong crowd, and the whole thing sends you into a trance.”

And that trance is Planica, with its charisma and its sports and wider significance. Planica is an expression of Slovenia’s love of sport, and this national sports festival is and remains the biggest Slovenian event of each year.

Text by Andrej Stare, Sinfo, April 2010