4000th facility has been added to the Ski Jumping Hill Archive
7000th ski jumping hill added to the Archive!
New Granåsen ski jump in Trondheim inaugurated
Fire destroys ski jumps in Biberau-Biberschlag
Copper Peak: Funding of the renovation finally secured
2025-06-24
2025-06-23
2025-06-22
2025-06-21
2025-06-20
2025-06-19
2025-06-18
2025-06-17
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K-Point: | 60 m |
Tower height: | 68.6 m |
Year of construction: | 1951 |
Year of destruction: | 1951 |
Coordinates: | 34.082791, -117.768120 ✔ ![]() ![]() |
K-Point: | ca. 40 m |
Year of construction: | 1960 |
Year of destruction: | 1960 |
Coordinates: | 34.084230, -117.765132 ✔ ![]() ![]() |
Further jumps: | no |
Plastic matting: | no |
Status: | destroyed |
Coordinates: | 34.082791, -117.768120 ✔ ![]() ![]() |
Josef "Sepp" Benedikter was an Austrian ski champion and instructor who played a key role in popularizing skiing in Southern California during the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Austria, he began skiing at the age of 3 and won over 200 trophies throughout his career. In 1936, he was one of five Austrian skiers brought to Sun Valley, Idaho, by W. Averell Harriman. There, he helped design ski trails and became the first person to ride the world’s first chairlift.
In September 1951, during the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, he built a 75-meter (250-foot) tall, very rickety structure resembling the profile of a standard ski jump. He convinced the fair organizers that nothing would be more exciting than Olympic ski jumpers soaring dozens of meters through the smoggy sky on a hot September evening. The jump was described as "the largest ever built in the United States" and was used for ski jumping exhibitions as well as slalom events. The spectacle caught the attention of the media and was even broadcast by KTTV.
Every day, trucks delivered tons of ice, which was crushed and sprayed onto the in-run and landing hill. Once everything was covered, volunteers from Southern California ski clubs side-stepped the jump until the surface looked more like a real ski jump than a deadly trap. Spectators were not only fascinated by long jumps but also by the anticipation of whether someone might overshoot the hill and land on the water-soaked asphalt. The fair lasted 17 days, and the same routine repeated daily.
In 1960, Benedikter once again became involved in constructing a ski jump for summer competitions. Among the participants were Alf and Alan Engen, who performed a demonstration double jump—an event captured in photographs from that period.
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