Have you ever watched a ski jumper soar through the air at 100 km/h and wondered — why on Earth are their skis spread open like a V? It looks strange. Almost awkward. Yet that odd shape is the very reason they can stay airborne for over 7 seconds and travel more than 140 meters through thin mountain air.
Welcome to FreeAstroScience, where we break down complex science into words that actually make sense. Today, we're flying — literally — into the physics of one of the most thrilling events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: ski jumping. Whether you're a physics enthusiast or simply someone who gasps every time a jumper launches off that ramp, this one's for you.
Stick with us until the end. By the time you finish, you'll never watch a ski jump the same way again.
📑 Table of Contents
What Did Ski Jumping Look Like Before the V-Style?
Picture this: it's the early 1980s. Every ski jumper on the planet holds their skis perfectly parallel during flight. Coaches, athletes, and commentators all agreed — parallel meant aerodynamic. Parallel meant elegant. Parallel was correct.
Nobody questioned it. The technique had been standard for decades. Jumpers leaned forward, kept their bodies tight, and let two perfectly aligned skis slice through the air like a knife.
And then a stubborn Swedish teenager changed everything.
Who Was Jan Boklöv, and Why Did Everyone Laugh at Him?
In the mid-1980s, Swedish ski jumper Jan Boklöv started spreading the tips of his skis apart — forming the shape of the letter V. It wasn't a grand plan. Some accounts suggest it happened almost by accident. But the results were impossible to ignore.
His jumps were dramatically longer than everyone else's.
The judges, though, weren't impressed. They docked his style points heavily. The V looked "ugly." It broke every unwritten rule of what a proper ski jump should look like. Yet here's the catch: even after losing style points, Boklöv was still winning because his distance advantage was so massive.
Science didn't care about tradition. Physics rewarded the V-shape, and slowly, the entire sport followed. By the early 1990s, almost every competitive ski jumper on Earth had adopted Boklöv's technique. The "ugly" rebel became the standard.
How Does Scoring Work in Ski Jumping?
Before we get deeper into the aerodynamics, let's understand how ski jumping competitions actually score athletes. It's not just about who flies the farthest — although distance matters a lot.
Each athlete takes two jumps. Distance is measured against a reference called the K-point (from the German Konstruktionspunkt). Think of it as the "par" in golf. Land on the K-point, and you receive a base score. Fly past it, and you earn bonus points. Fall short, and points get deducted.
On top of distance, five judges rate each jump for style — things like body position, balance, and landing quality. The highest and lowest style scores get thrown out, and the remaining three are added to the distance score.
| Component | How It Works | Impact on Final Score |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | Measured from the K-point (60 points at K-point) | High — bonus/penalty per meter |
| Style (5 judges) | Rated 0–20; top & bottom scores removed | Moderate — max 60 added points |
| Wind & Gate | Adjustments for fairness based on conditions | Variable — can shift rankings |
| Total | Sum of both jumps | Highest combined total wins |
This scoring system is exactly why Boklöv's story is so fascinating. He lost style points every single time. But his distance bonuses were so overwhelming that he still came out on top. In the end, physics beat aesthetics.
How Does the V-Style Create a "Virtual Wing"?
Here's where things get really interesting. When a ski jumper spreads their skis into a V, they don't actually increase their body's physical surface area. What they create is something far more clever: a virtual wing.
Let's break this down.
With parallel skis, air flows smoothly along both sides of the body and slips away laterally. Not much happens. The jumper falls quickly.
With the V-style, the angled skis trap air between the open tips and the athlete's torso. This creates a zone of high air pressure underneath the body — specifically in the triangular gap between the two skis and the chest.
Now, Newton's Third Law kicks in. The air gets deflected downward. And the reaction? The jumper gets pushed upward. That upward push is what physicists call lift — the same force that keeps airplanes in the sky.
The difference is staggering. Studies show that the V-position generates approximately 28% more lift than the old parallel technique.
The ski jumper isn't really flying, though. What's happening is a controlled glide — an extremely efficient descent where gravity still pulls the athlete down, but aerodynamic lift slows that fall dramatically. Think of it less like a bird and more like a human glider.
What Are the Real Numbers Behind a Ski Jump?
Let's talk data. The numbers behind ski jumping are mind-bending when you stop to think about them.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Takeoff speed | 90–100 km/h (~56–62 mph) |
| Angle between skis (V-opening) | 30°–45° |
| Body forward lean | ~20° from horizontal |
| Flight time (Large Hill) | > 7 seconds |
| Typical distance (Large Hill) | 140+ meters (~460 ft) |
| Ski flying record distances | 250+ meters (~820 ft) |
| Lift increase (V vs. parallel) | ≈ 28% |
Seven seconds might not sound like much. But close your eyes and count to seven. That's a long time to be airborne at highway speed, trusting nothing but your body position and two strips of carbon fiber to keep you from plummeting.
In ski flying — the extreme cousin of ski jumping that uses specially built mega-ramps — athletes soar past 250 meters. That's more than two and a half football fields. Through the air. On skis.
Can We Calculate the Lift Force?
Absolutely. The lift that keeps a ski jumper gliding follows the same equation used to design airplane wings. It's called the lift equation, and here's what it looks like:
Aerodynamic Lift Force
L = ½ · ρ · v² · CL · A
L = Lift force (Newtons)
ρ = Air density (~1.0 kg/m³ at mountain altitude)
v = Airspeed (~27 m/s at takeoff, i.e. ~100 km/h)
CL = Lift coefficient (depends on body + ski angle)
A = Effective wing area (the "virtual wing" from the V-shape)
Here's the key insight: by opening the skis into a V, the athlete increases both the effective area A and the lift coefficient CL. That combination boosts the total lift force dramatically — about 28% higher than the parallel style.
The body's forward lean of roughly 20° also plays a role. It reduces frontal drag while keeping the airflow smooth over the "wing." It's a delicate balance. Lean too far, and you lose control. Don't lean enough, and the air hits your body like a wall.
Every degree matters. Every centimeter of ski angle matters. At 100 km/h, a tiny mistake amplifies fast.
Why Doesn't the Winner Jump the Highest?
This is the counter-intuitive truth that makes ski jumping so fascinating. The goal isn't to jump high. The goal is to fall slowly.
The takeoff at the end of the ramp doesn't launch the athlete upward like a basketball player going for a dunk. Instead, it gives the jumper a brief moment to set their flight posture: head low, back flat, arms pressed tight against the body, skis angled open.
From that point forward, it's a battle against gravity. The athlete is falling the entire time — just falling very gracefully. The V-position and the forward body lean create enough lift to stretch that fall into an incredibly long, shallow glide.
Think of it this way: a stone dropped from a cliff hits the ground fast. A paper airplane launched from the same cliff travels much farther before touching down. The ski jumper's job is to become the paper airplane.
Every small error in posture increases aerodynamic drag and "kills" the glide. A hand out of place. A ski slightly off angle. Shoulders too high. Any of these can cost meters — and medals.
What Can We Expect at Milano Cortina 2026?
Right now, the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are showcasing ski jumping from the historic hills of Predazzo, Italy. Athletes like Italy's own Annika Sieff have been training on these ramps, fine-tuning their V-style to squeeze every last meter out of each flight.
The V-style position has become more than a technique at this point. It's a symbol of modern Olympic sport — a reminder that progress often starts with someone willing to look ridiculous. Jan Boklöv endured years of mockery and low style scores. Today, every single jumper on the planet uses his method.
That's a powerful lesson beyond physics. Sometimes the "wrong" way turns out to be the right way. You just need the courage — and the data — to prove it.
Final Thoughts: What Ski Jumping Teaches Us About Science and Courage
We started with a simple question: why the V? The answer took us through air pressure, Newton's Third Law, lift equations, and a stubborn Swedish athlete who trusted physics over tradition.
Here's what sticks with us: ski jumping isn't about jumping at all. It's about controlling a fall. It's about shaping your body into a wing and trusting the air to hold you. And the V-style — that "ugly" invention from the 1980s — is what made it all possible.
At its heart, this story is about something bigger than sport. It's about asking what if? even when everyone around you says you're wrong. It's about measuring, testing, and letting evidence lead the way.
If that spirit resonates with you, come back to FreeAstroScience.com. We exist because we believe complex science belongs to everyone — explained in simple terms, with no gatekeeping. We want to educate you, challenge you, and remind you: never turn off your mind. Keep it active. Always. Because as Goya once warned us, the sleep of reason breeds monsters.
See you in the next article. Stay curious. ✦
Sources
- Graziosi, R. (2026, February 9). "Perché i saltatori volano con gli sci a V? La fisica del segreto che sfida la gravità." Focus.it. Retrieved from https://www.focus.it/scienza/scienze/olimpiadi-invernali-2026-fisica-salto-sci-posizione-v
Bias & Gaps Check
This article relies on a single journalistic source (Focus.it), which provides a popularized overview of ski jumping physics. While the aerodynamic principles described (lift, Newton's Third Law, pressure differentials) are well-established in physics, the specific 28% lift increase figure comes from the source without a direct citation to a peer-reviewed study. Readers interested in deeper technical data should consult wind tunnel studies published in journals like the Journal of Biomechanics or Sports Engineering. The article focuses on the V-style's advantages and may understate ongoing refinements in suit regulations, ski length rules, and body-mass indexing that also shape modern ski jumping competition.
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