Letalnica bratov Gorišek is one of the two largest ski flying hills in the world and the biggest of eight hills located at the Planica Nordic Centre in Planica, Slovenia. It was built in 1969 and is named after the original constructors and brothers Vlado and Janez Gorišek. Since its opening, a total of 28 world records were set at the venue. Yugoslav ski jumper Miro Oman made the inaugural test jump of 135 m on 6 March 1969. The first FIS Ski Flying World Championships were organized on the hill in 1972. After Matti Nykänen set a world record jump of 191 m at the 1985 FIS Ski Flying World Championships, a new rule was instituted by the International Ski Federation that awarded no additional points for jumps over this distance due to safety reasons. The rule was abolished in 1994. On 17 March 1994, Andreas Goldberger touched the snow with his hand at 202 m for the first, albeit disqualified, over 200-metre jump. Just a few minutes later Toni Nieminen landed on his feet at 203 m and officially became the first man in history to jump over 200 metres. Letalnica bratov Gorišek is a regular venue of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, and has hosted the FIS Ski Flying World Championships on seven occasions, most recently in 2020. Since 2012, it also hosts the Red Bull 400 world series, the world's steepest 400-metre race. The world's steepest zip line with an average incline of 38 degrees opened at the hill in September 2015. During the Ski Flying World Championships in 1985, the venue's highest all-time attendance was recorded when a total of 150,000 people gathered over three days.

History

1969–1972: Opening and the first World Championships

Velikanka bratov Gorišek (original name) was planned, constructed and developed by Slovenian constructors, engineers and brothers, Vlado and Janez Gorišek. At the time, a lead engineer of Planica was Stano Pelan, who proposed to enlarge Bloudkova velikanka; however, Vlado Gorišek suggested to build a completely new venue instead. In the mid-1960s, Janez Gorišek was working as an engineer in Libya, where he prepared a plan and profile for a new hill. Construction began in 1967 and was completed by the end of 1968. During the construction, Janez was still working in Libya, so his older brother Vlado was fully in charge of the construction site. Initially, the construction point was at K153 with a 145-metre long inrun. On 6 March 1969, two weeks before the competition, a hill test with trial jumper was made. Miro Oman made an inaugural jump and landed at 135 m. On 21 March 1969, the first day of the KOP Ski Flying Week competition, the venue was officially opened with the first world record distance, set at 156 m by Bjørn Wirkola. The next day, the world record was tied and improved three times, by Jiří Raška (156 and 164 metres) and Bjørn Wirkola (160 metres). On the final day of competition, in front of 45,000 spectators, Manfred Wolf set the world record at 165 m in the last round. Jiří Raška won the three-day event. In 1972, the hill hosted the first FIS Ski Flying World Championships. Swiss ski jumper Walter Steiner became the first ski flying world champion in a three-day competition, which attracted around 110,000 spectators.

1974–1979: Steiner, Norčič and World Championships

On 15 March 1974, the second KOP Ski Flying Week competition started. The day started with a tied world record at 169 m, set by Walter Steiner in the trial round. In the first round, which was interrupted twice, Steiner crashed at 177 m, a new world record distance. In the last day of competition, Steiner confirmed his domination through the whole weekend and won in Planica for the second consecutive time. In 1977, the third KOP Ski Flying Week competition was held. During the trial round, Bogdan Norčič touched the ground at 181 m, which would have been a new world record, and the first jump over 180 metres in history. Reinhold Bachler from Austria won the three-day competition with the best round from each day counted into the final result. In 1979, Letalnica bratov Gorišek hosted the fifth ski flying World Championships. Axel Zitzmann crashed at a world record distance of 179 m, while the second round was cancelled and repeated. Klaus Ostwald tied the world record at 176 m, and Armin Kogler became world champion.

1985–1987: Record-breaking attendance with Nykänen

In 1984, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Planica, the organizing committee decided to modernize the hill. Major renovation works were carried out in the summer and autumn of 1984, with the Yugoslav Army personnel, volunteers and different working organizations helping at the construction site under the command of Gorišek brothers. 1,500 cubic metres of material was excavated and filled into the landing zone. They also excavated 300 cubic metres of material from the inrun. The old wooden tower was replaced by a steel one, and the take-off table was pushed back for five metres. In 1985, the eighth ski flying World Championships were held in Planica, with the venue's highest all-time total attendance record of 150,000 people, and the single-event record of 80,000 people. Three world records were set during the event, by Mike Holland (186 metres) and Matti Nykänen (187 and 191 metres). Nykänen has also won the World Championship. In 1986, a new rule was instituted by the International Ski Federation that awarded no additional points for jumps over 191 metres due to safety reasons. In the 1987 season, Letalnica bratov Gorišek hosted the World Cup event for the first time. On the first day, during a training session, Andreas Felder touched the ground at a world record distance of 192 m. The next day, Polish ski jumper Piotr Fijas set the last parallel style world record on the first day of competition when he jumped 194 m in the third round, which was cancelled and repeated right after his jump. His world record was officially recognized seven years later.

1991: Kiessewetter with the all-time longest parallel jump

On 23 March 1991, during the second round, André Kiesewetter touched the ground at a world record distance of 196 m, the all-time longest parallel style ski jump in history. In the third round, Stephan Zünd and Kiesewetter landed at 191 m. The next day, Ralph Gebstedt landed at 190 m in the third round and won the competition.

1994: First jump over 200 metres

On 17 March 1994, during the 1994 Ski Flying World Championships, Martin Höllwarth set a new world record at 196 m as a test jumper. Austrian ski jumper Andreas Goldberger landed at 202 m, making the first jump over 200 metres; however, he touched the snow with his hands, and the jump was counted as invalid. Just a few minutes later, Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen landed on his feet at 203 m and officially became the first man in history who jumped over 200 metres. It continued with Christof Duffner the next day who crashed from a huge height at 207 m. Later that day, Espen Bredesen set the third world record of the year at 209 m.

1997–2003: Peterka, ski jumping hysteria in Slovenia and more world records

In 1997, ski jumping hysteria spread all over Slovenia due to Primož Peterka, who was battling with Dieter Thoma for the first Slovenian overall title. Over 120,000 people gathered in three days, with over 60,000 people alone on the decisive Saturday when two world records (210 and 212 metres) were set by Espen Bredesen and Lasse Ottesen, respectively. Peterka won the overall title. In 1999, the four-day event was attended by over 80,000 people. Two world records were broken during the competition, set at 214.5 m by Martin Schmitt and 219.5 m by Tommy Ingebrigtsen. On 16 March 2000, during the official training session, Austrian ski jumper Thomas Hörl set a world record at 224.5 m. Two days later the first ski flying team event was held with another world record set by Andreas Goldberger, who landed at 225 m. In 2003, four world records were set. Adam Małysz tied the record at 225 m and Matti Hautamäki broke the record three times (227.5, 228 and 231 metres). Over 120,000 visitors gathered in four days.

2005–2010: Four world records in one day and adjustments

On 20 March 2005, four world records were set during the final round: Tommy Ingebrigtsen with 231 m, Matti Hautamäki with 235.5 m, and Bjørn Einar Romøren twice, with 234.5 m and 239 m. Janne Ahonen also crashed at 240 m and was slightly injured. In 2010, Letalnica got the new chairlift, renovated judge tower, landing zone widened, profile adjusted, and take-off angle lowered to keep competitors closer to the ground. All this was needed to fulfill the International Ski Federation requirements to host the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships where Simon Ammann became world champion.

2015–present: Renovations, Prevc's record-breaking season and a new hill record

Between 2013 and 2015, the hill underwent a major renovation. A new profile was drawn by Janez Gorišek with the help of his son Sebastjan Gorišek, who is also a constructor. The hill's new construction point was at K200 and the hill size at HS225. They built a completely new concrete inrun, replacing the old steel construction. The take-off table was moved five metres higher and pushed back for twelve metres compared to the old one. The battle for the 2014–15 World Cup overall title between Severin Freund and Peter Prevc lasted until the last jump of the season, which concluded at the newly renovated venue in March 2015. Freund took the overall title since he had more wins during the season, although they had the same number of points. In 2016, Prevc took the overall title in a record-breaking season in which he accumulated 15 wins, with a total of 111,000 people gathering in five days. During the test event, Tilen Bartol crashed at 252 m, the second longest flight in the history of ski jumping at the time, and half a metre longer than the official world record. On 22 March 2018, in the qualification round, Gregor Schlierenzauer touched the ground at 253.5 m and tied the world record distance. On 24 March 2019, Ryoyu Kobayashi set the hill record at 252 m and won the first overall title for Japan. In 2020, the 26th FIS Ski Flying World Championships in Planica were originally scheduled for March, but the event was postponed to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the finals of the 2023–24 World Cup season, new ice tracks were installed as part of the renovation of the inrun, mainly due to the high temperatures that caused the inrun to thaw if it was not protected from the sun.

Events

List of world records

A total of 28 official world records have been set at the hill. The longest ever, but invalid jump at the hill was set by Gregor Schlierenzauer in 2018 when he touched the ground at 253.5 m.

Hill parameters

Hill specifications according to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation certificate from 2020.

In popular culture

Letalnica bratov Gorišek appeared as the main location of The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, a German film directed by Werner Herzog which portrayed ski jumper Walter Steiner during the second KOP Ski Flying Week, held at Letalnica in 1974.