Čerťák

Čerťák
Ski flying hill to the right, large hill to the left
Location
City or town	Harrachov
Country	Czech Republic
Opened	1979
Renovated	1992
Size
K-spot	K-185
Hill size	HS205
Hill record	Matti Hautamäki (214.5 m in 2002)
Championships
World championships	*1983 Championships *1992 Championships *2002 Championships

Čerťák is a ski jumping hill located in the city of Harrachov in the Czech Republic. The venue is most notable for being one of five ski flying hills in the world, though it also has three smaller hills close by. It is owned by the sports club TJ Jiskra Harrachov. Audience capacity is about 50,000.

The hills

The hills are located on the north side of the mountain Čertová Hora, not far from the border to Poland. The first hill in Harrachov was built in 1922, but at a different location in town. Later in the 1920s the first hill in Čerťák was built. It was eventually expanded and supplemented with more hills. The ski flying hill was built in 1979 and opened in March 1980.

The large hill in Harrachov was built at the same time as the ski flying hill, and renovated in 1992. This hill has K-spot 125 meters and hill size 142 meters. The official record on the large hill is 145.5 meters, set by Janne Ahonen (Finland) on 12 December 2004 in a World Cup tournament. The unofficial record is 151 meters set by Martin Koch (Austria) on 17 December 2004 in a Continental Cup tournament. The hill is one of the largest large hills in the world.

The standard hill has K-point 90 meters, hill size 100 meters and record 102.5 meters. Two small hills have K-point 70 meters (record 77 meters) and K-point 40 meters (record 43.5 meters). The standard hill has plast mats, allowing summer use.

The ski flying hill in Harrachov early got a rumour of being quite dangerous to jump in. The first years the jumpers had a very high height over the sphere, up to twelve meters. The height resulted in that a gust of wind or error from the participant could end fatally, and many jumpers injured themselves in bad falls on the hill. During the World Championship in 1983 both Steinar Bråten (Norway), Horst Bulau (Canada) and Jens Weißflog (DDR) were severely injured. The venue was in the end closed by the International Ski Federation (FIS), and rebuilt between 1989 and 1992, and has since kept the requirements from FIS.

Winners

Ski-Flying World Championships

Year	Winner	Country
1983	Klaus Ostwald	East Germany
1992*	Noriaki Kasai	Japan
2002*	Sven Hannawald	Germany

*In 1992 competition counted for World Cup & Ski-Flying World Championships at the same time and was limited to two out of four jumps due to bad weather conditions.
*In 2002 World Championships competition was limited to two out of four jumps due to bad weather conditions.

World Cup

Year	Winner	Nationality
1985	Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl	NOR
1989	Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl	NOR
1992	Noriaki Kasai*	JAP
1996	Andreas Goldberger	AUT
2001	Adam Małysz	POL
	Adam Małysz	POL
2008	Janne Ahonen	FIN
2011	Martin Koch (night)	AUT
	Thomas Morgenstern	AUT

* In 1992 competition counted for World Cup & Ski-Flying World Championships at the same time.

Records

There have been set world records at Harrachov twice. Armin Kogler (Austria) jumped 176 meters on 27 March 1980 while Pavel Ploc (Czechoslovakia) jumped 181 meters on 19 March 1983. The hill has been used for three Ski flying World Championships, in 1983, 1992 and 2002.

Year Name Length 1980 Armin Kogler 176,0 m 1983 Pavel Ploc 181,0 m 1985 Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl 183,0 m 1992 Christof Duffner 194,0 m 1996 Roar Ljøkelsøy 201,0 m 1996 Andreas Goldberger 201,0 m 1996 Jakub Jiroutek 201,0 m 1996 Jan Balcar 203,0 m 1996 Andreas Goldberger 204,0 m 2001 Matti Hautamäki 205,0 m 2001 Adam Małysz 206,5 m 2001 Sven Hannawald 211,0 m 2001 Adam Małysz 212,0 m 2001 Risto Jussilainen 212,5 m 2002 Anders Bardal 212,5 m 2002 Matti Hautamäki 214,5 m

Coordinates: 50°46′01″N 15°25′44″E / 50.767°N 15.429°E / 50.767; 15.429