Ski jumping: Why don’t you get hurt when you land after flying off a 100-meter-high cliff?

Have you ever watched ski jumping?

The athletes ski on a slope more than 100 meters high at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour. At the end of the slope, there is a "cliff" with a drop of 100 meters. The athletes rush out of the cliff and fly in the air for ten seconds until they land smoothly. Only then can we let go of our worries.

Have you ever wondered why athletes can fly so far? Why do athletes not get hurt when they fall from a height of more than 100 meters?

The first stage of ski jumping is the slide, where athletes must achieve maximum speed on the slide. At this time, air resistance is their biggest enemy.

In order to overcome resistance, athletes will make their chests as parallel to the snow track as possible, stretch their arms backwards as far as possible to keep them level with the body, bend their knees as much as possible to reduce the windward area and thus reduce the air resistance.

At the moment of leaving the diving platform, the athletes will instantly adjust their posture, stretching their bodies forward as far as possible, even to the point of being parallel to the skateboard. Under the control of the athletes, the skateboard forms a V shape, which is very particular.

Because the force of air on the athlete can be decomposed into backward force and upward force, the backward force hinders the athlete's flight, but the upward force can counteract gravity and allow the athlete to fly longer. The skateboard is V-shaped, which can increase the athlete's force area and increase the lifting force by 30%.

In 1985, Swedish athlete Boklov achieved success by using the V-shaped ski jumping technique. Ski jumping performance improved rapidly and soon exceeded 200 meters. The V-shaped position has become a common technique used by all outstanding athletes in the world for nearly 40 years.

If you look closely at ski jumping, you will find that the snow track below the cliff is also designed according to the athlete's flight trajectory. Although the athlete has a large vertical drop when flying, he is never too far from the snow track. Moreover, no matter how far the athlete flies, the speed direction when landing is always at a very small angle to the slope. After landing, the speed along the snow track will not change. Only the speed vertical to the snow track is offset by the impact force of the ground. Since this vertical speed is not too large, the impact on the athlete is not too great. In addition, there is thick snow on the ground, and the athlete's clothing will also be filled with some materials to reduce the impact force. Therefore, under normal circumstances, even if the athlete fails, there will not be too much danger. The safety of ski jumping ranks high among winter sports.

Next time when you watch ski jumping, don’t worry too much about the safety of the athletes. Just concentrate and enjoy the athletes’ graceful postures and the visual shock they give us!

Source: Mr. Li Yongle