Ski Jumping is an individual sport where competitors ski down large ramps and attempt to jump as far as possible. The skier with the longest jump is the winner.

Ski jumping is a winter sport, and part of the Winter Olympic Games, in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp trying to gain enough speed to jump as far as possible. Skiers use skis that are much wider and longer than normal skis. While ski jumping is primarily a winter sport, the sport can also be performed in the summer on artificial surfaces. Ski jumping is popular among spectators and TV audiences in Scandinavia and Central Europe.

The goal of ski jumping is to jump as far as possible while judges award points for style.

The winner is decided on a scoring system based on distance and style. Each hill has a target called the calculation point (or K point) which is a par distance to aim for. This point is marked by the K line on the landing strip. For K90 and K120 competitions, the K line is at 90 m and 120 m respectively. Skiers are awarded 60 points if they land on the K Line. For every meter short/beyond this average, jumpers receive fewer/more points than the par 60 (1.8 points per meter).

In addition, five judges are based in a tower that lies to the side of the expected landing point. They can award up to 20 points for style based on: keeping the skis steady during flight, balance, good body position and landing.

The final score consists of the distance score plus the middle three style scores from the judges (the highest and lowest scores are ignored). For the individual event, the jumper with the best combined total from his two jumps is the winner.

Ski jumping originates from Morgedal, Norway, but the first proper competition was held in Trysil in 1862. The first widely known ski jumping competition was the Husebyrennene, held in Oslo from 1879. The annual event was moved to Holmenkollen from 1892, and Holmenkollen has remained the pinnacle of ski jumping venues.

Helmet
Ski Jumping Skis
Ski Jumping Suit

Training for ski jumping centers around developing the technique necessary to perform the jumps consistently and with properly. Technique plays an integral role in gaining distance on jumps. Using the modern V-technique, pioneered by Jan Boklöv of Sweden in 1985, world-class skiers are able to exceed the distance of the take-off hill by about 10 percent compared to the previous technique with parallel skis. Form is also important because that is an element being judged in the event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_jumping