Kaipola’s and Ahvenisto’s jumping hills are decaying when unused

It is the hill that the Olympic champion Toni Nieminen characterizes as legendary. The hill where everyone was a little afraid. A hill that threw the jumper higher than anywhere else in Finland and perhaps in the whole world.

– My God! It was a neat place, enthuses Nieminen.

– We should have taken the boys from Central Europe there once to try it out. Many of them pooped on the track. It scared even the toughest guy, Nieminen continues.

In 1964, in Jämsä’s Kaipola Pitkävuori, a jumping hill was completed on five massive concrete pillars on a high hill, which is still buzzing in sports circles.

– Jämsä’s small hill would have been enough for a small group of enthusiasts, but the gentlemen wanted to build that big hill. The United Paper Mills were strongly involved in it. It was a kind of show, says the experienced hill man from Jämsälä Juhani Vilkkilä.

Yythineet Papertehtaat had built a paper mill in Kaipola in the 1950s. The company’s operating philosophy included putting the sports venues in the area in order. This had also been done at the company’s head office location in Valkeakoski.

Crash monument

Kaipola’s K-100 meter hill was like a wolf when it was born.

– It immediately became clear that it is far too open a place. Very often the wind was too strong, and there were no wind nets at that time. However, it would be impossible to protect the place even with nets. Then, rarely when the weather was good, it was a great place to jump, Vilkkilä describes.

The locals call Kaipola the disaster monument. Norwegian Olympic medalist and hill week winner of Torgeir Brandtzæg the leg was broken in several places when he fell violently.

– Jari Pulkkinen career ended when he fell in Kaipola. It’s a shame, because he was a talented boy.

Nieminen saw from the hill tower when Kari Pätäri it went bad.

– It was my first competition in Kaipola in the early 90s. I hadn’t looked downhill at all. In the tower, I changed my clothes and noticed Kari’s pans. The hill threw the jumper unimaginably high, planks shone through from the hill and the descent hill was blue ice, Nieminen says.

He survived his maiden jump unscathed.

– But damn it was fun to pull, he gets excited again.

When the Finns were the world’s elite during Nieminen’s golden years in the 1990s, there were other hills with difficult wind conditions in use in Finland.

– We were used to jumping into strong crosswinds.

Cape record

Nieminen and Vilkkilä remember the competition held in the winter of 1994 particularly well.

– In the first round, Pasi Nieminen set a hill record. The measuring tapes ended at 95 meters, and with a tape measure, an exact result of 111 meters was obtained, says Vilkkilä, who was a measurer in the SC competition.

Toni Nieminen came in the second round, according to Vilkkilä, “in almost the same tracks” as his brother.

– It seemed unbelievably long from that hill, describes the winner of the competition.

– When I’ve driven past it, I’ve told the children that everything else can be taken from me, but not Kaipola’s hill record, Nieminen laughs at his 111-meter.

Auctions

Niemisten’s star moment was the last big race in Kaipola, as the hill was closed after the 1993–94 season.

– The united Paper Mills no longer maintained it, and the local club Kaipola Viree did not have enough resources, says Vilkkilä.

In 2006, the city of Jämsä bought the owner of the hill and the surrounding land at an auction To Mika Pent for 29,827.50 euros. Pent’s vision was to make an experience park.

– A large area of ​​land near the Himos skiing center attracted interest. The plans were well advanced and discussions were held with different companies. In the end, it was concluded that there is no point. Maybe after the third bankruptcy, the business would have been profitable, Pentti says.

With the closure of Kaipola, the area’s small but spicy hill activities moved to Oinaala in Jämsänkoski, where there are currently four small hills. In the Junior World Championships this season, Mäki’s farm is competing Sofia Mattila.

Memorable ad

On a weekday in January, the atmosphere at Kaipola’s jumping hill is eerie. Only the sounds of the highway break the silence.

There is a telecom operator’s antenna on the top of the tower, so the company has kept the only thing going up the hill in tolerable driving condition. Otherwise, the area is ruined. Only the security service company’s cameras remind us of modern times.

– I went there recently to look at places. Juniper grew in the valley. Sad. The trend in Finland is to make the hill smooth rather than fight for the conditions, says Nieminen.

The Kaipola hill can’t be made smooth right away, because it would take a lot of effort to dismantle it. A cube of concrete weighs about 3.5 tons. The height of the jumping tower is 57 meters.

– It’s not worth blowing it up. It cannot be used as a jumping hill, but the building is intact. It is a well-known landmark, especially in Central Europe. People go to museums, so why not there too. You could have a summer cafe there, Pentti states.

In Germany, Kaipola has the reputation of a true hill legend. In 1985 and 2005, Audi shot commercials in which the Quattro climbs from the springboard almost to the top of the tower.

– Audi also asked about a third advertisement, but the budget would have increased so much that they abandoned the project. The wooden jumping hill should have been renovated too much.

The entrepreneur states that he has no interest in developing the hill, so the place is for sale.

In Jämsä, there have sometimes been discussions about demolishing the hill, but the city’s hands are tied as long as the place is privately owned.

Concrete for little boys

Hämeenlinna’s Ahvenisto jumping hill will not be accessible by car in the winter of 2023. The last hundreds of meters have to be folded on foot and jumped over the ski track surrounding the concrete spur.

– Ávenisto was also a legendary place. It was the little boys’ Betoni, Nieminen recalls, and by Beton he means Lahti’s famous Suurmäki.

In 1968, the K-79 meter hill was completed for Åhvenisto, which holds the record Vesa Hakalan 82-meter.

– The hill was as wide as a highway. It had the feel of a big hill, even though it was a small hill.

Break into the ice

Ahvenisto hill was closed for use in 1995.

– It has the wrong profile. It should have been fixed. But there can’t be just one ski jumping hill in the city, there should be smaller ones as well. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a ski jumping activity in Hämeenlinna for a while, the sports manager of the city of Hämeenlinna Päivi Joenmäki comment.

A few years ago, Ahvenisto’s descent slope was demolished.

– The youth caused life-threatening situations when they went there to fool around. There were no serious accidents, but we didn’t want to take any risks, Hämeenlinna City Property Director Petri Ylämurto tells.

There has been climbing activity on the hill, but not anymore in recent years.

– Over the years, different ideas have been thought of since the coffee shop. It always boils down to no one having money.

In 2022, Hämeenlinna reserved 250,000 euros for the demolition of Ahvenisto Hill.

– The project has been frozen for the time being. Mäki has been there for decades, and may be there for decades to come, Ylämurto informs.