Bloudkova velikanka
Bloudkova velikanka is a large ski jumping hill in Planica, Slovenia, opened in 1934 by Joso Gorec's initiative. The hill was originally constructed by Ivan Rožman who invented the so-called "snow cement". The hill was originally named after Stanko Bloudek, but was renamed to Rožman/Bloudkova velikanka posthumously to honour Rožman. A year after opening, Bloudek became the main constructor, improving the hill until his death. In 1936, Sepp Bradl became the first man in history to jump over. Hill's axis and name are under national monument protection and cannot be changed. After almost a decade of inactivity, the hill was completely renovated and reopened in 2012. Right next to this one they built a brand new normal hill to replace the old demolished one.
History
Old hill (1932–2011)
In 1932, Joso Gorec, a key figure for the beginning of ski jumping in Planica, asked engineer Stanko Bloudek to construct a large hill. Bloudek drew plans for the K-80 hill, as the International Ski Federation did not allow any bigger hills at the time. Bloudek decided on the location and staked out the hill. However, at the same time, Ivan Rožman, a construction company owner and engineer drew plans for the K-90 hill. Gorec decided to build the bigger hill using Rožman's plans instead of Bloudek's plans, who was then left out.Starting the construction brought up some problems, as the local population from Rateče opposed to building the venue and did not want to sell the land where the hill was supposed to be situated on. They were eventually convinced and the construction lasted from October to December 1933.
On 4 February 1934 the hill, named the "Bloudkova velikanka" , was opened with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia National Championships. The winner was Franc Palme; with, he set the first two hill records and the national record at the same time. In March they organized the first international competition when Birger Ruud set the first world record in Planica with. Later, his brother Sigmund Ruud touched the ground at 94 metres, a world record distance.
In 1935, Bloudek took control over the hill as a constructor. From here he was the main engineer for renovating and enlarging the hill until his death.
The same year Rožman stepped out as an engineer in Planica, starting the argument on who was the original constructor and why the hill was not named after him. Rožman blamed Joso Gorec, who turned to Bloudek's side and named the hill after him, although Bloudek did not draw the original plans. For years, there was a public misconception that Bloudek was the original hill constructor while the original constructor was Ivan Rožman.
On 15 March 1936, Sepp Bradl became the first man in history to have officially jumped over one hundred metres, landing at which had to be displayed as 101 metres on the scoreboard due to lack of space. Two years later, Bradl again set a new world record with.
In 1939, Bloudek constructed the first simple 300-metre-long funicular with two parallel routes on a scree in Planica. It was on a scree on a way from Planica to Tamar Valley. As a result, Sigmund Ruud gave the hill name "Mammoth Hill" in his book Skispuren kruezen die Welt which was published in 1939.
In 1954, the hill was renovated as they built a new judging and television tower and a new profile of the hill. The hill was reopened and back in use for the Planica's Ski Flying week in March 1954.
In 1980, Bloudkova velikanka hosted the first FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event. The hill became a standard and regular host of World Cup events, exchanging with the ski flying hill Letalnica bratov Gorišek and normal hill up to 1998 when it stopped for a longer period of time. After that all events were held at the ski flying hill.
The hill was in use until 16 December 2001 when the upper part of concrete bows collapsed. In the same year, the last international competition on the old hill was held. For many years after the hill collapsed there were plans to renovate the hill. A decade later, in July 2011, they demolished inrun, judge tower and TV tower, but left "German tower" which is part of Slovenian culture heritage. The last construction point of the old hill was at K130 and the last hill size at HS 140.
Reconstruction and a new hill
As the Republic of Slovenia and the Planica Nordic Center signed a contract for complete renovation of the ski jumping hills, the renovation finally began. At the same location where the original large hill was standing, which is also part of Slovenian culture heritage, they rebuilt the hill at the hill size of 139 metres with the new profile, new inrun, and new judge and TV towers. Just next to the large hill they built a new normal hill with the hill size at 104 metres. Both hills were designed by the team of Slovenian architects Matej Blenkuš, Miloš Florijančič and Klemen Kobal. The hills were opened on 14 October 2012 with the national championships.The first person who jumped on a new HS 139 hill was Slovenian V-jumper Aleš Hlebanja from Rateče. He got this honour because his grandmother was the first of many owners who sold private property around the hill to the Republic of Slovenia and activate other owners to do the same. Primož Peterka was honoured to jump as first on a new HS 104 hill. In 2014, they organized the World Cup events for the first time since 1998.