| Hill Name: | Kastellbakken Husebybakken |
| City: | Ullern, Oslo, Norway |
| Opened: | 12 February 1879 |
| K-Spot: | K20 |
| Hill Record: | 22m (72feet) Sveinung Svalastoga(5–7 February 1881) |
Kastellbakken (later renamed into Husebybakken) is an abandoned, but first modern ski jumping hill in history, opened in 1879. It was located at Ullern in Oslo, Norway.
It was the venue of Husebyrennet, Norway's and the world's most prestigious Nordic skiing tournament between 1879 and 1891, due to lack of snow no events in 1880 and 1882.
On 12 February 1879, the premiere Husseby race took place in front of 10,000 spectators. Among them there were Norwegian king King Oscar II and his guest Prince Hans of Denmark who had never seen skiing before that. Olaf Haugan made and incredible jump of 20.7 metres (66 Norwegian ft) and set a new official world record. During practice Haugan already jumped 22 metres, which didn't count as WR.[1] [2]
The runner-up was Torjus Hemmestveit. This was the groundbreaking event for the future of this sport where twenty metres barrier was broken for the first time on the first ever modern ski jumping hill.
Between 5 and 7 February 1881, the second Husseby race was held. It is unclear on which exact day the ski jumping competition took place, when Norwegian Sveinung Svalastoga set the world record at 22 metres (72 ft).[3] [4]
In 1892, the tournament already moved to Holmenkollbakken and was renamed the Holmenkollen Ski Festival, the oldest and most prestigious nordic skiing competition in the world still running to this day.
| Date | Name | Country | Metres | Feet | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=gainsboro align=center | 12 February 1879 | Olaf Haugann | 22 | 72 | |||
| bgcolor=gainsboro align=center |
| 12 February 1879 | Olaf Haugann | 20.7 | |||
| bgcolor=gainsboro align=center |
| 5–7 February 1881 | Sveinung Svalastoga | 22 | 72 |