Ski jumping is a year-round sport: how matting hills and watered in-run tracks work, why summer conditions are steadier and what that means for training.
Ski jumping is not a winter sport — it is a year-round sport that happens to take place on snow in winter. What makes that possible are matting hills: plastic matting on the landing slope and, in summer, a watered porcelain or ceramic in-run track [1]. The summer season runs roughly from late April or May to October — and its conditions are steadier than in winter [1].
For anyone wanting to continue after a taster course, that is the single most practical piece of information in the sport. You are not waiting for snow. You are waiting for a free slot.
And something else changes in your head: jumping in summer is not "substitute" training. It is training under conditions that vary less — a real advantage when learning a movement decided in fractions of a second.
This section explains summer operation and what it means for your training — it is not jump instruction.
Two components replace the snow: plastic matting on the landing area and an in-run track of porcelain or ceramic that is watered in summer [1]. The water is not a coolant but a lubricant — it lowers friction in the track so in-run speed can build at all.
The in-run is pure physics: the ramp drops at around 35 degrees, the table points about 10.5 degrees downwards, and at the take-off point big hills see around 90 km/h [5]. This speed is not pedalled, it is not lost — which is why the in-run crouch is built for drag minimisation [5] and why track quality co-decides the jump.
Snow changes hourly: temperature, humidity, preparation. The watered plastic track does so far less — summer conditions are considered steadier than winter ones [1]. For technical learning that is an underrated advantage: when the environment is stable, you can attribute changes to your movement instead of the weather.
Alongside matting hills there are water hills and water ramps, where the landing happens in a pool [1]. They lower the fear of flying because they defuse the part that weighs most in the mind — the arrival. As a summer stepping stone they are a sensible building block, not a fun format.
The honest note: the hill is not your main risk in summer, dry-land training is. That is where the sport's overuse injuries predominantly arise, for example shin problems and jumper's knee [4]. Practice logic from that, not a study prescription: when jumping series on land increase, their management belongs in the same plan as hill jumps — discussed with coach and sports medicine, not on the side.
Courses and taster dates explicitly run in summer too [1], with rental gear and supervision. Anyone who cannot find access in winter has better chances of a slot in summer — plus the friendlier conditions.
On matting the same rules apply as on snow, only with a different surface. Size progression remains the safety system: start small, move up only once readiness is shown, with safety as the declared top priority under experienced guidance [3].
Plus one point that concerns summer operation in particular: ski jumping's injury profile has two sides — acutely above all knee ligament injuries and concussions, alongside overuse damage that predominantly stems from dry-land training [4]. Anyone raising volume in summer should look exactly there.
And the firm limit of this text: it explains and motivates, it never replaces supervised training in a club or at the hill. Separate understanding from execution. Matting hills are operated facilities with rules and supervision — not a place for private attempts.
If you have to choose when to place your first supervised jumping day, take summer — and justify it not with weather but with learning psychology. Steady conditions [1] mean: when two jumps feel different, it was you, not the surface. That clean feedback is worth more when learning than any pep talk.
Yes — thanks to matting hills ski jumping is a year-round sport. The landing slope is covered with plastic matting, and the porcelain or ceramic in-run track is watered in summer [1]. The summer season runs roughly from late April or May to October, and conditions are considered steadier than in winter [1].
A hill whose landing slope is covered with plastic matting and whose in-run track is watered in summer operation [1]. Geometry and sequence stay the same: steep in-run ramp, table, flight, landing — on big hills at around 90 km/h at take-off [5]. Only the surface differs.
The progression rules are identical: smallest hill first, moving up only when ready, supervised [3]. The relevant difference lies less in the jump than in the volume around it — in ski jumping overuse injuries arise predominantly in dry-land training [4], which typically takes up more room in summer.
At matting hills offering courses; taster formats for adults and children run all year [1]. In Germany around 80 clubs run the sport and usually the facilities with it [2]. Water hills and water ramps are a lower-fear stepping stone before jumping onto matting [1].
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