Molde

Moldeheia

Data | History | Hill records | Map | Comments

Moldeheibakken:

K-Point:	60 m
Longest jump:	70.0 m (Bjørn Wirkola , 1962-04-15)
Hill record:	66.0 m (Bjørn Wirkola , 1962-04-15, N-NOR)

Further jumps:	no
Plastic matting:	no
Spectator capacity:	12,000
Year of construction:	1923
Conversions:	1926-1926, 1934, 1960-1961
Year of destruction:	ca. 1970
Status:	destroyed
Ski club:	Molde og Omegn IF
Coordinates:	62.764148, 7.158505 ✔

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History:

The first initiatives to build a ski jump in Moldeheia happened in 1922. The plans and preparations for it started the year after. The hill, whose location was near the club house of Molde og Omegn IF (MOI), saw its first test jumps in February 1924, where distances between 30 and 38 meters were reached. And so it was chosen as the venue for a regional championships in March. But this event was surely not a success. The profile of the landing slope was too much of a downhill skiing slope, the inrun was sluggish and the inrun radius just too sharp.
In autum 1924, MOI and landowner Ulrich Møller both agreed a contract, which gave MOI the license to use the area for the next 50 years. In 1925, the profile was improved, the year after a judges' tower was built. Local media reported jumps between 38 and 50 meters, however hill records were not documented. In 1926 and 1927, Romsdal Championships took place, before the National Championships should follow in 1927. Unfortunately, these had to be canceled due to a lack of snow. Eventually, the event was held the year after.
In 1930, the participant field of the regional championships was extended with participants from Møre, Gudbrandsdalen, Sør-Trøndelag and Trondheim and also with Knut Kobberstad from Oslo district Lyn and the new-crowned World Champion Gunnar Andersen from Modum. These two crashed during the competition, because the snow in the inrun was too loose. So, they decided to do one more jump after the competition, where Andersen reached 51.5 and Kobberstad 52 meters. A junior jumper, Ragnvald Sele, even reached 54 meters, but could not land it.
The following winter was snow-poor and so MOI had to wait until April to finally organize a competition. There, Silver Medallist of the Olympic Championships in Lake Placid, Hans Arnold Beck, jumped a new official hill record of 51.5 meters. In a show-jump he even jumped 54 meters.
For 1934, MOI applied as a host for the Norwegian National Championships, but the federation preferred Porsgrunn. One year later, the application was successful, which led into a conversion of the Moldeheibakken. The hill profile was adapted once again and grandstands were built. The competitions were held from March 7th till 10th and the weather was just perfect. About 12,000 spectators enjoyed watching the best Nordic athletes from the whole country. This number of spectators is worth mentioning since Molde itself only had 3,500 inhabitants. Arne B. Christiansen became new ski jumping champion, while Olav Lian took the victory in Nordic Combined. Also thanks to a new hill record of 55.5 meters.
Even before World War II, MOI aimed to build an additional training facility. But the war delayed the activities and so the hills in Mølleråsen could not be opened before 1947. Afar from that, Moldeheibakken lost its importance and so there were even thoughts of building a completely new large hill.
But, after Molde was awarded as a host of some disciplines of the Norwegian Championships in 1962, Moldeheibakken once again was modernized in the early 1960's. The inrun was moved up a few meters, which enabled longer jumps, such as the final hill record of no other than Bjørn Wirkola. Back then as a junior jumper, he reached 66 meters during competition, after he even beat the 70 meters during training. It was supposed to be the last highlight in the history of Moldeheibakken.
In 1965, MOI thought about building a new large hill on Nonnsmyra, but that never happened. However, the municipalities of Molde, Fræna and Eide came together to discuss plans for a new ski jump. Eventually, it was built and inaugurated in March 1969 and today is known as Skarbakken.

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Hill records K60 (Men):

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Map:

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Comments:

Post comment:

1) Karl Laurits Olsen wrote on 2024-09-09 at 16:53:

Hill record

Bjørn Wirkola's hill record of 66 m was set on 15 April 1962. In a trial jump (trial round?) on that same day he stood at 70 m.

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Moldeheia

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1962-04-15:	70.0 m	Bjørn Wirkola
1962-04-15:	66.0 m	Bjørn Wirkola	N-NOR
1935-03-10:	55.5 m	Olav Lian	NC-N-NOR
1934:	54.0 m	Hans Arnold Beck
1932:	51.5 m	Hans Arnold Beck
1930:	54.0 m	Ragnvald Sele
1930:	52.0 m	Knut Kobberstad
1930:	51.5 m	Gunnar Andersen