List of the longest ski jumps

Nels Nelsen as he sets the world record of 73 meters (240 ft) in the Big Hill in 1925

Ski jumping is a winter sport in which participants compete on length and style on a jump in a ski jumping hill. As of 2011, the longest ski jump is 246.5 meters, set by Johan Remen Evensen in Vikersundbakken. Ski jumping has traditionally focused on a combination of style and length, and it was therefore early seen as unimportant in many milieus to have the longest jump. Particularly the International Ski Federation (FIS) has largely been opposed to the inflation in hill sizes and setting of distance records. For instance, no world records have been set in Olympic, FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Holmenkollen Ski Festival or Four Hills Tournament hills, as these have never been among the largest in the world.

Ski jumping originated in Norway, and has been practiced since time immemorial, using hand-made temporary hills. The first record is credited to Olaf Rye, a soldier who set up a show spectated by his fellow soldiers in 1808, reaching 9.5 meters on Vardebakken hill in Eidsberg, Norway. This small hill was at Lekum gård next to the Eidsberg's church.

Sondre Norheim, credited as the father of modern skiing, made the second official record at 19.5 meters in 1868. Tim Ashburn says in his book The history of ski jumping that Norheim's longest jump in the circular track in Haugli ground in 1868 should have been measured at 31.5 meters (103 ft), but that newspapers in Christiania reported that the length "was little exaggerated", so official record is everywhere written as 19.5 meters (64 ft).

The sport quickly spread to Finland, the United States and Canada, where some of the subsequent records were set. Early jumping competitions were only scored by style, and it was seen as disruptive to attempt to jump further. Not until 1901 was a scoring system for distance introduced. With the construction of Bloudkova Velikanka in Planica, Yugoslavia, in 1934, the more extreme ski flying was introduced. With one exception, since then all of the length records have been set in six of the world's seven ski flying hills, of which five remain in use. In 1936, Josef Bradl was the first to reach the 100 meter mark. FIS was long opposed to ski flying, and it has never been included in the Olympic or Nordic World Ski Championships. However, since 1972, the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships was introduced, and there have also been annual ski flying jumps in as part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. The first to reach 200 meters was Toni Nieminen in 1994; at the time, ski jumpers did not receive distance points fro the part of the jumps exceeding 191 meters.

The distance is measured from the lip of the takeoff to the place on the hill where the skier's back foot is when he touches the ground. To qualify, the jump must be made in a sanctioned competition, or official trial or qualification runs for these, with a system to control the actual length. To win a competition, a jumper needs both distance and style, the latter of which is achieved by attaining a proper Telemark landing; therefore jumpers are not motivated to jump as far as possible, only as far necessary to attain a good landing. Jumps are invalid if the jumper falls, defined as touching the ground with his hands or body before reaching the fall line. Originally, jumps were measured in alen, but this has since been replaced by meters, with an accuracy of half a meter. Some old United States and Canadian records were recorded in feet. Traditionally, people would stand along the hill for every meter, and a crew member would raise their hand if the jumper landed on their meter. Today this is done with camera technology.

World records

The following is a list of all world records set distance in ski jumping. The list contains the length in meters and feet, the year the record was set, the athlete and the country they competed for, the location and country of the venue, the name of the hill and the ski manufacturer.

Length (m)	Length (ft)	Year	Athlete	Country	Location	Hill	Skis
246.5	809	2011	Johan Remen Evensen	Norway	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	Elan
243.0	797	2011	Johan Remen Evensen	Norway	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	Elan
239.0	784	2005	Bjørn Einar Romøren	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Fischer
235.5	773	2005	Matti Hautamäki	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
234.5	769	2005	Bjørn Einar Romøren	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Fischer
231.0	758	2005	Tommy Ingebrigtsen	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Rossignol
231.0	758	2003	Matti Hautamäki	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
228.5	750	2003	Matti Hautamäki	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
227.5	746	2003	Matti Hautamäki	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
225.0	738	2003	Adam Małysz	Poland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
225.0	738	2000	Andreas Goldberger	Austria	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Fischer
224.5	737	2000	Thomas Hörl	Austria	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Fischer
219.5	720	1999	Tommy Ingebrigtsen	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
214.5	704	1999	Martin Schmitt	Germany	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Rossignol
212.0	696	1997	Lasse Ottesen	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Rossignol
210.0	689	1997	Espen Bredesen	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
209.0	686	1994	Espen Bredesen	Norway	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
203.0	666	1994	Toni Nieminen	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
196.0	643	1994	Martin Höllwarth	Austria	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
194.0	636	1987	Piotr Fijas	Poland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
193.0	633	1987	Vegard Opaas	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
191.0	627	1986	Andreas Felder	Austria	Bad Mitterndorf, Austria	Kulm	Atomic
191.0	627	1985	Matti Nykänen	Finland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Kneissl
187.0	614	1985	Matti Nykänen	Finland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Kneissl
186.0	610	1985	Mike Holland	United States	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
185.0	607	1984	Matti Nykänen	Finland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	Kneissl
182.0	597	1984	Matti Nykänen	Finland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	Kneissl
182.0	597	1984	Matti Nykänen	Finland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	Kneissl
181.0	594	1983	Pavel Ploc	Czechoslovakia	Harrachov, Czechoslovakia	Čerťák	Kneissl
180.0	591	1981	Armin Kogler	Austria	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
176.0	577	1980	Armin Kogler	Austria	Harrachov, Czechoslovakia	Čerťák	—
176.0	577	1979	Klaus Ostwald	East Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
176.0	577	1976	Toni Innauer	Austria	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
174.0	571	1976	Falco Weißpflog	East Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
174.0	571	1976	Toni Innauer	Austria	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
173.0	568	1976	Geir Ove Berg	Norway	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
169.0	554	1974	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
169.0	554	1973	Heinz Wosipiwo	East Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
165.0	541	1969	Manfred Wolf	East Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
164.0	538	1969	Jiří Raška	Czechoslovakia	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
160.0	525	1969	Bjørn Wirkola	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
156.0	512	1969	Jiří Raška	Czechoslovakia	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
156.0	512	1969	Bjørn Wirkola	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
154.0	505	1968	Reinhold Bachler	Austria	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	—
150.0	492	1967	Lars Grini	Norway	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
148.0	486	1967	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
147.0	482	1967	Lars Grini	Norway	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
146.0	479	1966	Bjørn Wirkola	Norway	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	—
145.0	476	1966	Bjørn Wirkola	Norway	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	—
145.0	476	1965	Peter Lesser	East Germany	Bad Mitterndorf, Austria	Kulm	—
144.0	472	1964	Nano Zandanel	Italy	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
142.0	466	1964	Dalibor Motejlek	Czechoslovakia	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
141.0	463	1964	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
141.0	463	1962	Peter Lesser	East Germany	Bad Mitterndorf, Austria	Kulm	—
141.0	463	1961	Jože Šlibar	Yugoslavia	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
139.0	456	1951	Tauno Luiro	Finland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
135.0	443	1950	Dan Netzell	Sweden	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
127.0	417	1950	Sepp Weiler	West Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
124.0	407	1950	Willi Gantschnigg	Austria	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
120.0	394	1948	Fritz Tschannen	Switzerland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
118.0	387	1941	Rudi Gehring	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
112.0	367	1941	Paul Krauss	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
111.0	364	1941	Hans Lahr	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
109.0	358	1941	Franz Mair	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
108.0	354	1941	Rudi Gehring	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
107.0	351	1938	Josef Bradl	Austria	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
101.5	333	1936	Josef Bradl	Austria	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
99.5	326	1935	Fritz Kainersdörfer	Switzerland	Ponte di Legno, Italy	Trampolino Gigante Corno d’Aola	—
99.0	325	1935	Reidar Andersen	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
98.0	322	1935	Reidar Andersen	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
95.0	312	1935	Stanisław Marusarz	Poland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
93.0	305	1935	Reidar Andersen	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
92.0	302	1934	Birger Ruud	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
87.5	287	1933	Robert Lymburne	Canada	Revelstoke, Canada	Nels Nelsen Hill	—
87.0	285	1933	Henri Ruchet	Switzerland	Villars, Switzerland	Tremplin de Bretaye	—
86.0	282	1933	Sigmund Ruud	Norway	Villars, Switzerland	Tremplin de Bretaye	—
84.0	276	1933	Sigmund Ruud	Norway	Villars, Switzerland	Tremplin de Bretaye	—
82.0	269	1932	Robert Lymburne	Canada	Revelstoke, Canada	Nels Nelsen Hill	—
81.5	267	1931	Sigmund Ruud	Norway	Davos, Switzerland	Bolgenschanze	—
77.4	254	1931	Alf Engen	Norway	Salt Lake City, United States	Ecker Hill	—
76.5	251	1931	Birger Ruud	Norway	Odnes, Søndre Land, Norway	Odnesbakken	—
75.0	246	1930	Adolph Badrutt	Switzerland	Pontresina, Switzerland	Bernina-Roseg-Schanze	—
73.1	240	1925	Nels Nelsen	Canada	Revelstoke, Canada	Nels Nelsen Hill	—
69.8	229	1921	Henry Hall	United States	Revelstoke, Canada	Nels Nelsen Hill	—
65.2	214	1920	Anders Haugen	United States	Dillon, United States	Haugen Hill	—
64.9	213	1919	Anders Haugen	United States	Dillon, United States	Haugen Hill	—
62.2	204	1918	Henry Hall	United States	Steamboat Springs, United States	Howelsen Hill	—
61.9	203	1917	Henry Hall	United States	Steamboat Springs, United States	Howelsen Hill	—
58.5	192	1916	Ragnar Omtvedt	United States	Steamboat Springs, United States	Howelsen Hill	—
54.0	177	1915	Reidar Amble Ommundsen	Norway	Mjøndalen, Norway	Vikkollen	—
51.5	169	1913	Ragnar Omtvedt	United States	Ironwood, United States	Wolverine Hill	—
48.2	158	1913	Ragnar Omtvedt	United States	Ironwood, United States	Wolverine Hill	—
48.0	157	1913	Thorleif Knudsen	Norway	Davos, Switzerland	Bolgenschanze	—
47.0	154	1912	Gunnar Andersen	Norway	Geithus, Modum, Norway	Gustadbakken	—
46.3	152	1911	Anders Haugen	Norway	Ironwood, United States	Wolverine Hill	—
45.0	148	1909	Harald Smith	Norway	Davos, Switzerland	Bolgenschanze	—
43.0	141	1909	Harald Smith	Norway	Bardonecchia, Italy	Trampolino Campo Smith	—
42.1	138	1909	Oscar Gundersen	Norway	Chippewa Falls, United States	Chippewa Falls Ski Jump	—
41.0	135	1902	Nils Gjestvang	Norway	Geithus, Modum, Norway	Gustadbakken	—
38.5	126	1902	Nils Gjestvang	Norway	Geithus, Modum, Norway	Gustadbakken	—
35.5	116	1900	Olaf Tandberg	Norway	Bærum, Norway	Solbergbakken	—
32.5	107	1899	Morten Hansen	Norway	Bærum, Norway	Solbergbakken	—
32.5	107	1899	Asbjørn Nilssen	Norway	Bærum, Norway	Solbergbakken	—
31.5	103	1897	Svein Solid	Norway	Morgedal, Norway	Hegnibakken	—
31.4	103	1893	Mikkjel Hemmestveit	Norway	Red Wing, United States	McSorley Hill	—
31.1	102	1891	Mikkjel Hemmestveit	Norway	Red Wing, United States	McSorley Hill	—
30.0	98	1890	G. Bye	Norway	Blyberget, Norway	—	—
26.0	85	1886	Johannes Nordgard	Norway	Seljord, Norway	Flatdalbakken	—
22.0	72	1881	Sveinung Svalastoga	Norway	Ullern, Oslo, Norway	Kastellbakken	—
20.0	66	1879	Olaf Haugann	Norway	Ullern, Oslo, Norway	Kastellbakken	—
19.5	64	1868	Sondre Norheim	Norway	Brukenberg, Kviteseid, Telemark, Norway	Hauglibakken	—
9.5	31	1808	Olaf Rye	Norway	Eidsberg, Norway	Vardebakken	—

Invalid world records

If a jumper touches the ground with his hands or body before reaching the fall line, the jump is counted as a fall and the jumper receives a severe penalty to the style score, although the jumper is not disqualified from the race. Such jumps are also not regarded as setting world records in distance. The following is a list of jumps which would have set world records, had the jumper not fallen.

Length (m)	Length (ft)	Year	Athlete	Country	Location	Hill	Skis
240.0	787	2005	Janne Ahonen	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
234.5	769	2005	Andreas Widhölzl	Austria	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
232.5	763	2003	Veli-Matti Lindström	Finland	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Fischer
219.0	719	1999	Martin Schmitt	Germany	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Rossignol
213.0	699	1997	Dieter Thoma	Germany	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
207.0	679	1994	Christof Duffner	Germany	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
202.0	663	1994	Andreas Goldberger	Austria	Planica, Slovenia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
194.0	636	1992	Christof Duffner	Germany	Harrachov, Czechoslovakia	Čerťák	Atomic
196.0	643	1991	André Kiesewetter	Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
192.0	630	1987	Andreas Felder	Austria	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Atomic
181.0	594	1981	Bogdan Norčič	Yugoslavia	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
179.0	587	1979	Axel Zitzmann	East Germany	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	—
177.0	581	1974	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Letalnica Bratov Gorišek	Elan
179.0	587	1973	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
175.0	574	1973	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
176.0	577	1973	Takao Ito	Japan	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
166.0	545	1973	Jochen Danneberg	East Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
166.0	545	1969	Ladislav Divila	Czechoslovakia	Vikersund, Norway	Vikersundbakken	—
147.0	482	1965	Peter Lesser	East Germany	Bad Mitterndorf, Austria	Kulm	—
144.0	472	1965	Bjørn Wirkola	Norway	Bad Mitterndorf, Austria	Kulm	—
145.0	476	1961	Wolfgang Happle	West Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
139.0	456	1958	Max Bolkart	West Germany	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
130.0	427	1950	Hans Eder	Austria	Oberstdorf, Germany	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze	—
121.0	397	1948	Charles Blum	Switzerland	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
120.0	394	1948	Janez Polda	Yugoslavia	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
103.5	340	1935	Olav Ulland	Norway	Ponte di Legno, Italy	Trampolino Gigante Corno d’Aola	—
94.8	311	1935	Alf Engen	Norway	Salt Lake City, United States	Ecker Hill	—
89.0	292	1934	Per Johnson	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
89.0	292	1934	Gregor Höll	Austria	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—
95.0	312	1934	Sigmund Ruud	Norway	Planica, Yugoslavia	Bloudkova Velikanka	—

Christof Duffner jumped and fell at 194 meters in Harrachov 1992. It's claimed that this jump was actually 205 meters long, but it was never officially recognized and measured as that distance or wriiten down on a paper.

André Kiesewetter's invalid 196 meters from Planica 1991, was then written down for safety reasons to 192 meters, to prevent wide-hunting.

Alf Engen jumped 94.8 meters standing in a Salt Lake City 1935 training series, otherwise it would be a world record.