Letalnica bratov Gorišek

Velikanka bratov Gorišek (original name) was planned, constructed and developed by Slovenian constructors, engineers and brothers, Vlado and Janez Gorišek. At the time, a lead engineer of Planica was Stano Pelan, who proposed to enlarge Bloudkova velikanka; however, Vlado Gorišek suggested to build a completely new venue instead.[7] In the mid-1960s, Janez Gorišek was working as an engineer in Libya, where he prepared a plan and profile for a new hill.[7] Construction began in 1967 and was completed by the end of 1968.[8] During the construction, Janez was still working in Libya, so his older brother Vlado was fully in charge of the construction site. Initially, the construction point was at K153 with a 145-metre long inrun.[9]

On 6 March 1969, two weeks before the competition, a hill test with trial jumper was made. Miro Oman made an inaugural jump and landed at 135 metres (443 ft).[10][11] On 21 March 1969, the first day of the KOP Ski Flying Week competition, the venue was officially opened with the first world record distance, set at 156 metres (512 ft) by Bjørn Wirkola.[12][13] The next day, the world record was tied and improved three times, by Jiří Raška (156 and 164 metres) and Bjørn Wirkola (160 metres).[14][15] On the final day of competition, in front of 45,000 spectators, Manfred Wolf set the world record at 165 metres (541 ft) in the last round. Jiří Raška won the three-day event.[16]

In 1972, the hill hosted the first FIS Ski Flying World Championships. Swiss ski jumper Walter Steiner became the first ski flying world champion in a three-day competition, which attracted around 110,000 spectators.[17][18][19]

Inaugural event in 1969

On 15 March 1974, the second KOP Ski Flying Week competition started. The day started with a tied world record at 169 metres (554 ft), set by Walter Steiner in the trial round. In the first round, which was interrupted twice, Steiner crashed at 177 metres (581 ft), a new world record distance.[20] In the last day of competition, Steiner confirmed his domination through the whole weekend and won in Planica for the second consecutive time.[21]

In 1977, the third KOP Ski Flying Week competition was held. During the trial round, Bogdan Norčič touched the ground at 181 metres (594 ft), which would have been a new world record, and the first jump over 180 metres in history. Reinhold Bachler from Austria won the three-day competition with the best round from each day counted into the final result.[22]

In 1979, Letalnica bratov Gorišek hosted the fifth ski flying World Championships. Axel Zitzmann crashed at a world record distance of 179 metres (587 ft), while the second round was cancelled and repeated.[23][24] Klaus Ostwald tied the world record at 176 metres (577 ft),[25] and Armin Kogler became world champion.[26]

In 1984, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Planica, the organizing committee decided to modernize the hill. Major renovation works were carried out in the summer and autumn of 1984, with the Yugoslav Army personnel, volunteers and different working organizations helping at the construction site under the command of Gorišek brothers. 1,500 cubic metres of material was excavated and filled into the landing zone. They also excavated 300 cubic metres of material from the inrun. The old wooden tower was replaced by a steel one, and the take-off table was pushed back for five metres.[27]

In 1985, the eighth ski flying World Championships were held in Planica, with the venue's highest all-time total attendance record of 150,000 people, and the single-event record of 80,000 people.[28] Three world records were set during the event, by Mike Holland (186 metres) and Matti Nykänen (187 and 191 metres). Nykänen has also won the World Championship.[29] In 1986, a new rule was instituted by the International Ski Federation that awarded no additional points for jumps over 191 metres due to safety reasons.[30]

In the 1987 season, Letalnica bratov Gorišek hosted the World Cup event for the first time. On the first day, during a training session, Andreas Felder touched the ground at a world record distance of 192 metres (630 ft).[31][32] The next day, Polish ski jumper Piotr Fijas set the last parallel style world record on the first day of competition when he jumped 194 metres (636 ft) in the third round, which was cancelled and repeated right after his jump.[33][34] His world record was officially recognized seven years later.[35]

On 23 March 1991, during the second round, André Kiesewetter touched the ground at a world record distance of 196 metres (643 ft), the all-time longest parallel style ski jump in history. In the third round, Stephan Zünd and Kiesewetter landed at 191 metres (627 ft).[36] The next day, Ralph Gebstedt landed at 190 metres (620 ft) in the third round and won the competition.[37][38]

In 1994, Andreas Goldberger became the first competitor to jump over 200 metres; however, his attempt was considered invalid.

On 17 March 1994, during the 1994 Ski Flying World Championships, Martin Höllwarth set a new world record at 196 metres (643 ft) as a test jumper. Austrian ski jumper Andreas Goldberger landed at 202 metres (663 ft), making the first jump over 200 metres; however, he touched the snow with his hands, and the jump was counted as invalid. Just a few minutes later, Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen landed on his feet at 203 metres (666 ft) and officially became the first man in history who jumped over 200 metres.[39]

It continued with Christof Duffner the next day who crashed from a huge height at 207 metres (679 ft). Later that day, Espen Bredesen set the third world record of the year at 209 metres (686 ft).[40]

In 1997, ski jumping hysteria spread all over Slovenia due to Primož Peterka,[41] who was battling with Dieter Thoma for the first Slovenian overall title. Over 120,000 people gathered in three days, with over 60,000 people alone on the decisive Saturday when two world records (210 and 212 metres) were set by Espen Bredesen and Lasse Ottesen, respectively.[42][43] Peterka won the overall title.[44][45]

In 1999, the four-day event was attended by over 80,000 people.[46][47] Two world records were broken during the competition, set at 214.5 metres (704 ft) by Martin Schmitt and 219.5 metres (720 ft) by Tommy Ingebrigtsen.[48][49]

On 16 March 2000, during the official training session, Austrian ski jumper Thomas Hörl set a world record at 224.5 metres (737 ft).[50] Two days later the first ski flying team event was held with another world record set by Andreas Goldberger, who landed at 225 metres (738 ft).[51][52]

In 2003, four world records were set. Adam Małysz tied the record at 225 metres (738 ft) and Matti Hautamäki broke the record three times (227.5, 228 and 231 metres). Over 120,000 visitors gathered in four days.[53]

Letalnica in 2008

On 20 March 2005, four world records were set during the final round: Tommy Ingebrigtsen with 231 metres (758 ft), Matti Hautamäki with 235.5 metres (773 ft), and Bjørn Einar Romøren twice, with 234.5 metres (769 ft) and 239 metres (784 ft). Janne Ahonen also crashed at 240 metres (790 ft) and was slightly injured.[42][54]

In 2010, Letalnica got the new chairlift, renovated judge tower, landing zone widened, profile adjusted, and take-off angle lowered to keep competitors closer to the ground. All this was needed to fulfill the International Ski Federation requirements to host the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships where Simon Ammann became world champion.[55][56]

Between 2013 and 2015, the hill underwent a major renovation.[57] A new profile was drawn by Janez Gorišek with the help of his son Sebastjan Gorišek, who is also a constructor.[58] The hill's new construction point was at K200 and the hill size at HS225.[59] They built a completely new concrete inrun, replacing the old steel construction.[59] The take-off table was moved five metres higher and pushed back for twelve metres compared to the old one.[59][60]

New inrun in 2015

The battle for the 2014–15 World Cup overall title between Severin Freund and Peter Prevc lasted until the last jump of the season, which concluded at the newly renovated venue in March 2015. Freund took the overall title since he had more wins during the season, although they had the same number of points.[61]

In 2016, Prevc took the overall title in a record-breaking season in which he accumulated 15 wins, with a total of 111,000 people gathering in five days.[62] During the test event, Tilen Bartol crashed at 252 metres (827 ft), the second longest flight in the history of ski jumping at the time, and half a metre longer than the official world record.[63]

On 22 March 2018, in the qualification round, Gregor Schlierenzauer touched the ground at 253.5 metres (832 ft) and tied the world record distance.[64]

On 24 March 2019, Ryoyu Kobayashi set the hill record at 252 metres (827 ft) and won the first overall title for Japan.[65]

In 2020, the 26th FIS Ski Flying World Championships at Letalnica were originally scheduled for March, but the event was postponed to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[66]