Planica

Planica near Kranjska Gora is the cradle of ski flying; over decades world records fell on the huge flying hill, and it is regularly the finale venue of the Ski Jumping World Cup. The year-round Nordic Centre with wind-tunnel and zip-line experiences and trails makes the valley a destination outside the season too.

Highlights

• Cradle of ski flying, world-record hill
• Ski Jumping World Cup finale
• Nordic Centre with experience offers
• Cross-country and cycle trails in the valley

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Planica lies in the far north-west of Slovenia, a quiet high valley of the Julian Alps near the border village of Rateče and not far from Kranjska Gora, framed by the mighty massif of the Ponca ridge. This remote head of the valley became famous in the first half of the 20th century, when one of the first and to this day boldest ski-flying hills in the world was built here. As early as 1936 pioneers jumped farther here than ever before, and Planica became the stage on which the limits of the possible in ski flying were pushed back time and again, all the way to distances well beyond two hundred metres.

Today the valley, with its complex of modern large hills, among them one of the biggest flying hills in the world, forms a Nordic centre of international rank in which World Cup and World Championship finals are regularly held. At the same time Planica is the gateway to the Triglav National Park, Slovenia’s only national park, which protects the rugged world of the Julian Alps around the country’s highest mountain. Thus the place combines sporting history with the wild originality of a high valley whose stillness is broken only on the great competition days by the cheering of the crowds.