Čerťák is a

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

stadium with two

hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...

located in the town of

Harrachov Harrachov (; german: Harrachsdorf) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic, close to the border with Poland. It has about 1,300 inhabitants. It is known for its ski resort. Administrative parts The town ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It was built in 1979 and both hill officially opened in 1980. The venue is most notable for being one of five

ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff ra ...

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. Despite being a flying hill, only two

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

have ever set at Čerťák, both in the 1980s. It was also during this time, and into the early 1990s, that many horrific accidents occurred.

The hills

The hills are located on the north side of the mountain Čertová Hora, not far from the border to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. 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 a

K-point The construction point ( ger, Konstruktionspunkt), also known as the K-point or K-spot and formerly critical point, is a line across a ski jumping hill. It is used to calculate the number of points granted for a given jump. It is therefore also ca ...

of 125 m and a

hill size The hill size (HS) is the most important measurement for the size of a ski jumping hill. It is defined as the distance between the takeoff table and the end of the landing area, which is called hill size point. It is not measured as a straight l ...

of 142 m. The official record is 145.5 m, set by

Janne Ahonen Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful from ...

on 12 December 2004 during the 2004–05 World Cup season. The unofficial record is 151 m set by Martin Koch (Austria) on 17 December 2004 in a Continental Cup event. The normal hill has K-point of 90 m, a hill size of 100 m and a hill record of 102.5 m. The two smaller hills have K-points of 70 m (hill record 77 m) and K-point 40 meters (hill record 43.5 m). The standard hill has plastic mats, allowing summer use. The ski flying hill in Harrachov garnered an early reputation of being quite dangerous from which to jump. In its early years, jumpers achieved a significant height over the knoll, up to 12 m. The result of this height was that a gust of wind or error from the jumper could end catastrophically, and there were indeed many injuries from bad falls. During the World Championship in 1983, injuries were suffered by Steinar Bråten,

Horst Bulau Horst Hardy Bulau (born 14 August 1962) is a Canadian former ski jumper who competed for the Canadian national team. Career By the end of his career, he had thirteen World Cup wins to his credit, the most by any skier in Canadian history during ...

and

Jens Weißflog Jens Weißflog (, ; born 21 July 1964) is a German former ski jumper. He is one of the best and most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. Only Finns Matti Nykänen and Janne Ahonen, Poles Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch and Austria ...

. In 1985,

Pavel Ploc Pavel Ploc (, born 15 June 1964) is a Czech former ski jumper who competed for Czechoslovakia, winning two Olympic medals. Career At the Winter Olympics, he earned a silver in the individual normal hill in 1988 and a bronze in the individual la ...

suffered a violent crash. The venue was eventually closed by the

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a Se ...

and rebuilt between 1989 and 1992, and has since kept the requirements from FIS. Accidents have still occurred, however: in 1992,

Andreas Goldberger Andreas "Andi" Goldberger (born 29 November 1972) is an Austrian former ski jumper. He became the first man in history to jump over 200 metres in 1994, although he didn't manage to stand. Career He won the World Cup overall titles three times ( ...

fell out of the air at the highest point of his jump and crashed very hard.

Events

Normal hill

Large hill

Flying hill

Hill record

Large hill

Flying hill

Official

Invalid

{{DEFAULTSORT:Certak Ski areas and resorts in the Czech Republic Ski jumping venues in the Czech Republic Ski flying venues Sports venues in the Liberec Region Sport in Harrachov