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But... But.... Surely the slopeyness of the landing has no bearing on how far (horizontally) they fly? Doesn't a descending slope just mean a softer landing?
Have to admit I don't much care for ski jumping myself, but that's mainly because it always seems to overrun on the telly, encroaching on biathlon coverage, which I like muchly
Cutthroat_Jake-
But... But.... Surely the slopeyness of the landing has no bearing on how far (horizontally) they fly?
Of course it does. They'll continue to move horizontally so the longer they are in the air the further they will go horizontally. With the ground falling away it allows them to spend longer in the air, therefore they travel further horizontally.
The take off ramp on a ski jump is usually at or below horizontal (rather than angled up) so apart from the little jump they do with their legs/body at the end of the ramp they cut through the horizontal plane from the end of the ramp almost straight away.
Random google image:
P.S. Fuck that. I'll point myself down pretty much any slope on skis but I like to be able to do turns (if I can't get my edges in). The snow slope at the bottom looks fine though.
Greenbank
Ski jumping. They only go far because they land on a curved slope.