JIRI RASKA SKI JUMP COMPLEX
Raska complex is one of the traditional ski jump centres in the Czech Republic. The local beginnings of organized ski jumping date back to around 1910 and are linked to activities of a number of local clubs, such as Radhost Mountain Association, Czech Tourist Club, Sokol or the Skiers’ Association.
Since the late 1960s, ski jumping has been the most successful skiing discipline, primarily thanks to the olympic and world champion Jiri Raska. His successes provided the impetus for the project of a ski jumping complex with plastic-covered jumps on the slopes of Horecky. Following his triumph at the olympics in Grenoble in 1968, where he won the first gold medal for Czechoslovakia, a ski jump with a critical point of K=42 was built in a record time of 40 days. In the same year, construction began on jumps of P=72 and K=90. All were designed by Josef Zita. Between 1969 and 1973, the ski jump complex was built in its current form, including a parking lot and evening lighting. The K=90 jump was the first of its size in the world to be covered with synthetic material.
It is primarily used to train young jumpers, although several competitions featuring the world’s top athletes are held here annually. A local training centre was established in the 1990s.
