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Hampstead

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Hampstead Heath Ski Jump:

K-Point:	30 m
Longest jump:	36.0 m (Jappen Eriksen , 1951-03-31)
Hill record:	35.5 m (Arne Hoel , 1951-03-31)
Tower height:	18.3 m
Inrun length:	30.5 m

Further jumps:	no
Plastic matting:	yes
Year of construction:	1950
Year of destruction:	1951
Status:	destroyed
Ski club:	Ski Club of Great Britain
Coordinates:	51.563679, -0.171643 ✔

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History:

In March 1950, the first ski jumping competition in the United Kingdom was held on Hampstead Heath in London. The event was a joint venture between the Ski Club of Great Britain and the Oslo Ski Association. To prepare the jump, 45 tons of snow were brought in from Norway, transported in wooden crates and preserved with dry ice. The snow was laid on a ramp built from scaffolding, 18 meters high and 30 meters long, with the take-off point positioned 4 meters above the ground. Due to the limited amount of snow, a narrow track was created with a central snow strip, allowing jumpers to reach speeds of 30–40 miles per hour. At the end of the landing area, a large pile of hay was placed to help the competitors slow down safely.
The event attracted huge crowds – it is estimated that up to 100,000 spectators attended. On the first day, 25 Norwegian ski jumpers competed, and the winner was Arne Hoel from Oslo, who achieved a distance of 28 meters. On the second day, a competition between students from Oxford and Cambridge universities took place, won by the Oxford team.
In 1951, the competition was repeated, this time with a larger jump structure 24 meters high and an additional 15 tons of snow. However, heavy rainfall and strong winds meant that the event did not achieve the same success as the previous year. Arne Hoel won again, setting a new hill record of 35.5 meters.

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Comments:

Post comment:

2) Karl Laurits Olsen wrote on 2025-05-17 at 11:09:

The longest fallen jump

Sorry I am notpicking again. All the newspapers I can find in the archive of Norway's national library has Jappen Eriksen's fallen jump as 36 m, not 36.5.

1) Martin Clark wrote on 2021-02-08 at 13:14:

I went to this.

At age 11 this was my first experience of ski jumping and have followed it on TV since.

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Hampstead

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1951-03-31:	36.0 m	Jappen Eriksen
1951-03-31:	35.5 m	Arne Hoel
1951-03-30:	33.5 m	Arne Hoel
1950-03-25:	30.5 m	Reidar Andersen