OK ... it's a bit long, but you'll be a lot smarter after you read it!
(you can put this knowledge to use watching the Olympics)

Isn't ski jumping all about distance? Well, yes and no. Ski jumping is measured in distance, but it's not scored in distance. Distances are converted to points by a mathematical formula. Judges award points for technique ... it's where the term "style points" comes from, but "style" is really a misleading term. It's not meant to convey "flash" or "fashion" ... but perfection of technique.

You can think of ski jumpers as pilots, using their skis and bodies as wings. The time in flight is far longer than that of a diver or gymnast. They have to maintain a steady, aerodynamic position throughout their flight and landing. Because there might be a lot of flights of similar distance in a field of very good jumpers, the points awarded for technique separate the better skiers from the less skilled when distances are similar.

In a field of skiers of similar technical skill, the jumper who puts together two long rides will win on distance points. Conversely, where distances are very close, points for technique can sometimes put a more skilled skier ahead of someone with less polished technique but a bit more distance.

OK, but how are scores figured? Let's start by explaining distance points. It's pretty easy to see how judges' points are awarded, but how are distance points calculated?

If you're familiar with golf, you understand the concept of par. Some courses are longer and more difficult, but there's a score called "par" that a golfer can aim for. Scores are calculated not in terms of total strokes, but by over or under par.

Ski jumps vary in size. They may be only three to five meters for little tiny kids, The "normal" hill at the Olympics will be about a 90 meter jump, and the "large" hill will be about a 120 meter jump. This is the number of meters from the takeoff point to the "par" distance for the hill, called the K-point. There are jumps much bigger than these, called ski-flying hills. But that's another topic.

How is the K-point determined? If you look at the landing hill, you'll see that it's not very steep just below the takeoff, but it becomes progressively steeper until it reaches a slope of about 37 degrees (this is called the P-point). It continues at that slope for some distance, then very gradually begins to flatten out. The point where this happens is the K-point. Good jumpers will reach this distance under favorable conditions. Even the best jumpers won't reach this every time, but exceptional jumpers will exceed it frequently, and sometimes a mediocre jumper will "hit one" that far.

As the slope gradually flattens out, it gets harder to fly further, and harder to make a good landing. And it gets more dangerous. But this is about scoring, not safety, so all we'll touch on here is that by varying the starting point, speed can be regulated to conform to conditions, so skiers will not become airborne at speeds which would make dangerous jumps likely.

You will often see large blue and red banners alongside the landing hill. Blue starts at the P-point, and continues down to the K-point. At that point, the color changes to red, and that indicates the zone beyond the "par" distance on that hill. This gives both spectators and skiers a reference point. Now that we've explained what the K-point is and where it is, let's figure out how the skier's distance is translated into points.

At most events there will be three or five judges. As you'd expect, where five judges are used, the high and low scores are discarded. Each judge has up to twenty points to award for technique, so if a jumper was literally perfect in the eyes of three judges, he (or she) could get up to sixty points for technique on one flight, or 120 points for two flights (a regular competition is two rounds).

For each judge, there is also a baseline of 20 points to be awarded if the jumper lands at the K-point, but these points are figured mathematically, not awarded by the judges. If the jumper lands short of the K-point, his baseline score of 20 points is lowered by a formula based on points per meter, and that formula is determined by the size of the hill. However, and this is the key point, if the jumper flies beyond the K-point, the same number of points per meter are added to the baseline 20 points for each meter jumper flies beyond the beyond the K-point. There is no upper limit on distance points.

To put all this into focus, picture yourself in a one-judge meet. You are standing at the top of the jump, waiting to be flagged down. So far, your ride is perfect, and you haven't moved. The flag waves, and you get into your inrun position. You zoom down the inrun ramp, spring up and forward into an aerodynamic position at the takeoff. You have a pretty good ride, and you land at the K-point, but you have a bit of trouble with some wind gusts. Your skis wobble a bit in the air, and you have to move your arms away from your sides a bit for stability. Your landing is OK, but not perfect.

You'll get twenty points for distance (awarded by formula), and let's say you get an 18.5 from the single judge. That's a 38.5 score for this round. While the length of your flight in meters was important, your 20 distance points were awarded because you hit "par" on this hill. It didn't matter if it was a 70 meter hill (called a K70), or a K100, or a K120. It mattered that you hit the spot that good jumpers are expected to hit, based on the size and design of the hill.

Now while we've been explaining all this, you've climbed to the top for your next ride. You aren't hampered by wind, and you get 19.5 from the judge. Just a little momentary imbalance on landing causes a half-point deduction for technique. But you jump beyond the K-point and gain two extra points for distance, giving you 22 plus 19.5, or 41.5 points for that round. Combined with your 38.5 on the first round, you have exactly eighty points. This is what you'd have had if your two rides were perfect on technique, and you'd landed right at the K-point both times.

Now ... multiply this scenario by three judges, and you've had a 240 point day, an exceptional performance in anyone's book. A few people jumped farther, a few jumped better, but you'll be among the best on the hill this day. Any score over 200 is good. But because the judges' points are capped at 20 per judge per ride, you can only get 120 total points for technique, and to get that requires two perfect rides. It should be pretty clear that few rides are perfect, so getting 240 points takes some very good distances. Simply put, you can gain distance points to offset deductions by the judges, but you can't gain extra judges' points to make up for a short ride. And it takes both to beat great competition.

This is being written on January 13, 2002. This past weekend, Germany's Sven Hannawald set an all-time record with 319 points in a two-round competition at Willingen, Germany. Simple subtraction will tell you that 199 of those points were awarded for distance. Anyone who gets 240 total points has had a great day. Anyone with 260 has had a fabulous day. See the end of this page for the distances and scores of the top five finishers in this World Cup event. The World Cup champion is determined by the largest point total at the end of the year.

It's appropriate here to give some examples of points per meter. On a 50 meter hill, the distance points are calculated at two points per meter over or under the K-point. On a 90 meter hill (the smaller jump at the Olympics) it will be 1.2 points per meter. And on a 120 meter hill (larger Olympic jump), the score is based on .8 points per meter.

There ... that wasn't so bad, was it? Think of "par" for distance, and you can go over or under. Think of skating, diving, or gymnastics in terms of a maximum number of points that can be awarded. And just remember that a 240 point day is good in anyone's book ... but at the Olympics and on the World Cup circuit, you've got a lot of jumpers who are capable of 240 points. It's the ones who are good ... and who can also fly farther than the others ... who stand on the podium at the end of the day. And in a season-long competition like the World Cup, use of a points scale standardizes the scoring regardless of hill size, so points earned for the season are similar for each event despite differing hill sizes. In a World Cup meet, only the top 30 jumpers compete in the final round. Most of the top 30 at this level of competion will exceed 200 points!

To get an idea of the upper end of World Cup competition, review the following summary of the top five finishers at Willingen on January 13, 2002. Distances are given in meters. Note that there were two jumps of 148 meters, which is 485 feet.

1. Sven Hannawald, Germany, (141.5-148) 319.1
2. Matti Hautamaeki, Finland, (137-148) 309.0
3. Veli-Matti Lindstrom, Finland, (141-135), 298.8
4. Adam Malysz, Poland, (137.5-138) 295.9
5. Andreas Widhoelzl, Austria, (137-137) 293.7

Keep in mind that right here in the midwestern U.S., the record on the jump at Iron Mountain is 140 meters, or 459 feet. There was a World Cup meet there in 2001, and there's a Continental Cup scheduled there in February 2002 (the Continental Cup is the ski jumping equivalent of Triple-A baseball). Excellent jumpers, many knocking on the door of the World Cup tour.

Now go out and watch some ski jumping, and think in terms of points!

Click here for a picture of a skier just taking flight at Willingen. It will give you a perspective of the skier's altitude, which is not as high as many people imagine.

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