The outrun starts after landing: rise up, skis flat and parallel on the fall line, then brake. How it is judged and how you learn it safely in a club.
What happens in ski jumping after the landing, and what matters? The honest answer: the outrun begins as soon as your weight rests on the landing hill after the flight and extends to the fall line. You rise up from the landing, ski toward the centre of the hill, skis flat and parallel, weight evenly distributed, arms and legs relaxed. Only after that do you brake. Whoever wobbles here loses points.
How seriously judges take it shows in their guidelines: the outrun carries up to 7.0 points of deduction, more than flight (5.0) or landing (5.0) [1]. Small faults such as brief unsteadiness, skis not flat or a slight deviation from the fall line cost 0.5 to 1.5 points, a fall on or before the fall line even 7.0 [1].
For you as a beginner the outrun is above all a safety phase. Among World Cup women jumpers over three seasons there were 26.3 injuries per 100 athletes per season, 78 % of them on the hill. The most common cause was a crash landing (70 %), and the knee was the most common injury site (33 %) [2]. This guide is an overview, not a jumping instruction: you learn jumping only in a club, with a coach and a suitable hill.
This section explains how the outrun is structured and judged. It is not an instruction to jump yourself.
After impact you move from the landing posture to a mostly vertical position with slightly bent knees [1]. That means: you leave the telemark depth without falling back or supporting yourself backward. The coach sees whether you come up calmly.
Milestone: you rise up on the practice slope without wobbling.
Both skis lie flat and parallel on the surface, at most two ski widths apart (or in a snowplow), weight distributed evenly over both skis [1]. Edges should not bite.
Milestone: you glide 20 metres straight on flat skis without edging.
You follow a line toward the centre of the hill, on the fall line (the line along which a ball would roll down the slope) [1]. Arms and legs stay relaxed until you are beyond the fall line [1]. Only then does braking begin.
Milestone: you stay on a straight line to the marker without swaying.
Before braking you stand upright (otherwise a deduction [1]). Then you brake in a controlled way in a snowplow or parallel to a stop. Your coach shows you everything else at the hill.
Milestone: on the practice slope you stop in a controlled and upright manner within the braking zone.
Practise rising up and skiing out without a hill: on a wide ski slope or in dry-land training you take a low position, rise slowly and roll out on flat, parallel skis. That teaches you the feel of "weight evenly on both skis" (practice, agreed with the coach).
The phase after the landing: you rise up, ski with flat, parallel skis on the fall line and brake afterwards. It begins when your weight is on the hill and extends to the fall line [1].
With up to 7.0 points of deduction. Small faults cost 0.5 to 1.5 points, larger ones 2.0 to 2.5, a fall on or before the fall line 7.0 [1].
In a ski jumping club with a youth hill and coach. On your own it is dangerous. Start by asking the club in your region.
In the women’s World Cup there were 26.3 injuries per 100 athletes per season, mostly from crash landings and most often at the knee [2]. These are elite figures on large hills. For beginners on small hills there is no figure of its own.
Ski Jumping for Beginners: How Dangerous It Really Is — and How to Start