New ski flying records to be set again in Planica

Each year, around 100,000 sports fans gather in Planica, the valley of ski jumping, considered to be the cradle of ski flying. This year, the FIS World Cup competition, which has been happening since 1934, will take place in Planica between 21 and 24 March where new records will be set again. Planica has special symbolic value in Slovenia and can stand as a symbol next to Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia.

Planica is known as the largest ski-flying hill in the world, where records are set almost every year. The first time that a human being made a ski jump over 100 m was in Planica in 1934, while later, in 1994, the limit of 200 m was broken. The organisers in Planica annually prepare the ski-flying hill for new surprising results, while in 2013, Planica will feature two newly restored ski-flying hills.

Both ski-flying hills, large and mid, are only part of the Planica Nordic Centre that will, after the concluded construction project, boast 9 ski-jumping facilities, a cross-country centre, main facility with horizontal and vertical wind tunnel and covered one-kilometre running track that can be used 365 days a year. The latter is intended primarily for recreational athletes, and occasionally also for professional ones. According to plans, the entire facility should be completed by 2014, while the main part of work will be carried out after the March ski jumping finals.

Visiting the Planica ski-jumping hills and seeing the world`s best ski jumpers is extremely popular in Slovenia, while the event also attracts foreign sports fans. This year, the event will be even more interesting, as Slovenian ski jumpers have been achieving amazing results this year. For instance, Peter Prevc recently won two medals at the Ski Jumping World Cup.

Slovenia and Planica 2013 are bracing themselves for new records. The FIS World Jumping Ski Final program is available here.

This year, Planica will present a new feature. Although the event organiser in Planica has been working in accordance with sustainable development policy for years, this year Planica has set new and bigger sustainable objectives and created a detailed program in order to reduce the impact on the environment – reaching to the areas of development and traffic management, with the emphasis on the use of public transport, care of heritage and awareness of people with responsible interaction among everyone involved, reduction of waste, development of sustainable economy in the region with efficient use of available means, consideration of legislation in the area of light and noise pollution and numerous other measures that cannot be carried out without group efforts. Visitors, athletes, local population, journalists, service providers, sponsors and workers in Planica each have their own role.

More about Planica and its sustainable development can be found here.

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