On Tuesday afternoon, pictures began to circulate in the Icelandic media. A day later, Red Bull itself posted a video from the spectacular project in Iceland.
In a giant ski jump in a mountain in Iceland, Ryoyu Kobayashi jumped an insane 291 meters. It is 37.5 meters longer than the official world record of 253.5 meters set by Stefan Kraft in Vikersund.
The incredible soar has sent shockwaves through the jumping community. One person who got to see this up close is Stian André Skinnes.
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– People have lived here since September
He tells Nettavisen that the project, called Red Bull 300, has been planned for a long time. It all started a few years back when Kobayashi signed a sponsorship deal with Red Bull and they asked what his goal was.
Then the Japanese replied that he wanted to jump the longest in the world and set crazy records.
Red Bull has had this in mind for several years, and a year ago they contacted Kobayashi and his management and told them that they had found the perfect place, and that it should be possible to jump over 300 meters on skis there.
This summer, Skinnes was asked if he wanted to take part in the project. He agreed, and the Norwegian then became part of an enormous apparatus.
– There have been people here who have lived here since September and worked on the project. An enormous apparatus that has been set in motion for this project, he tells Nettavisen.
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– Completely unreal
Tuesday this week was the first time Kobayashi jumped on the ground. Then his longest jump was 256 metres, which meant that the world record had already been broken.
– I think he himself was very relieved after that. Then we leave here with a completed project. Then he asked if it was possible to jump again on Wednesday, says Skinnes.
That is what everyone involved in the project wanted to achieve. Kobayashi, who was quite tired after Tuesday’s jumping, had to get up early on Wednesday to get his body going with some bare ground training.
At 04:30 they went to the ground, and from 06:00 Kobayashi was ready to jump in perfect conditions. In his fourth and last jump of the day, he landed at 291 metres.
– An absolutely insane project that ended with an absolutely insane jump. It was just unreal. I think that drone clip shows how extreme and also how stable and good the ski jump was, says a happy Skinnes.
– How was the atmosphere in the camp after the jump of 291 metres?
– It was completely unreal. You just see a human on skis flying down a mountainside in Iceland. The nature, everything is just amazingly beautiful.
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– Impossible to copy
The video of the jump that Red Bull released on Wednesday afternoon caused quite a stir. Johann André Forfang told Nettavisen that he believes a new time calculation in ski jumping was started after Kobayashi’s incredible jump.
– We have just witnessed one of the greatest moments in the history of ski jumping, he also told Nettavisen.
The many reactions also reached the gang in Iceland, and Skinnes has to agree with Forfang.
– In a way, this is a new dimension. We have moved world records by two or three meters in the last 150 years. On Wednesday, it was moved 37.5 metres. It leaves a footprint that is simply enormous. With today’s regulations, it is impossible to copy. It is difficult to describe. Ski history, world history, it’s huge, says Skinnes.
He believes that part of what Red Bull and Kobayashi want to convey with the project is to take ski jumping back to its roots.
– Creating a natural jumping hill in the mountains. Not a lot of stuff, it’s just ski jumping in focus, he says.
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Not an official world record
Despite the fact that Kobayashi’s jump is the longest in history, it will not be considered a world record by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).
They issued a press release on Wednesday evening announcing that the world record still belongs to Stefan Kraft after his jump in 2017.
However, Skinnes does not take it too seriously.
– That’s just how it is. But the jump here will be mentioned as the longest ski jump in the world, and that is what we want. We don’t see any need to have the official world record, that’s just the way the rules are. To facilitate Kobayashi and let him fulfill his dream and let him enjoy the moment. Red Bull is primarily for the athletes. That is what they want, he says, adding that they have not heard anything from FIS in connection with the project.
