It requires special technical skills and safety measures, as well as the proper equipment. Thus, the skis used in this discipline are long and wide, attached only to the toes of the skier.

This skiing discipline has origins in Norway, where the first competition was held in 1862. From then on, it became very popular in Scandinavia and Central Europe, as well as Japan. There were even attempts for increasing the popularity of the sport by including plastic terrains with fake snow and thus making it possible for performance during the summer and in areas with scarce snow cover.

Regarding the techniques, at first the Kongsberger technique was used, which bears the name of the city it was developed Kongsberg. It included stance of strong leaning forward, bend to the hip, arms extended to the front and skis parallel to each other. This method allowed jumps with length from 45 meters to more than 100 meters. Later, a Swiss expert changed the Kongsberger technique by placing the skiers arms backward toward his hips for a more aerodynamic position. The contemporary used V-technique enables the skier to increase the jump distance and improve the style. Another technique that is involved in ski jumping is the Telemark style, used in landing with one foot in front of the other.

As for the scoring, the jury gives points not only for the length of the jump but also for style. Except the judges that follow the overall execution of the skier, there are five additional experts that judge the style in details, observing the skier from a tower based aside from the landing point. The winner is the skier with the highest score, estimated on the basis of distance and the middle three style scores from the jury. The World Cup ski jumping competitions consist of a training jump and two scored jumps; team events include four members of the same country who have to perform two jumps each. The Olympic events are held on three types of hills: Normal hill (K90), which is 90m high and the distances up to 110 meters; Large hill (K120), with 120 meters height and maximum distance approximately 140 meters; Ski-flying hill, with maximum distance 240 meters. As far as women in ski jumping are concerned, they can participate in international competitions only through the Continental Cup. Most recently, the International Ski Federation took the decision to allow also women in this discipline at the 2009 championships in Czech Republic. Other team events for women are foreseen and the decision of the International Olympic Committee is being expected whether women would be allowed to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.