We want to bring RAW AIR closer to you! Before the start of the new season, we offer you an article which we will publish in three parts. This will give you the chance to read about the event and get a look behind the scenes.
Newsskijumping got the chance to talk about this topic with Vibeke Linn, head of Social Media and also FIS Ski Jumping Race Director Walter Hofer took some time to answer our questions. Furthermore, athletes and a physiotherapist gave us their opinion about the upcoming big event.
Today we will start with the facts about the upcoming event and talk with Vibeke Linn.
The Facts
RAW AIR will be the next big event du
ring the World Cup season 2016/17. From 11th – 19th
March six competitions will take place at four different locations in Norway – four individual and two team competitions.
The competitions will be held in Oslo, Lillehammer, Trondheim and Vikersund. This might give the impression that RAW AIR will be a copy of the 4-Hills-Tournament but its coordinator Arne Abraten said that this will not happen. „We do not want to be and will not enter into the competition with the great 4-Hills-Tournament.“
The difference will be that the qualification results will count for the overall ranking so that athletes will have to participate in the so-called prologue if they want to have a chance to become the winner of the RAW AIR overall title. The prize money for the overall winner will be EUR 60,000 in addition to the obligatory prize money while the second will get EUR 30,000 and the third EUR 10,000.
In order to ensure a comfortable journey Abraten talks about a collaboration with the Norwegian Railway to travel between the locations. „Our plan is that athletes, coaches, officials and media representatives will travel to the next venue by charter train. We are currently negotiation the possibilities. Right now things are looking good and I hope that we can implement our plan together with Norwegian Railways. Transport by train would be perfect for the logistics and it would also be environmentally friendly“, said Abraten.
Another important partner will be the Norwegian TV NRK which plans to offer a first-class broadcast of all competitions worldwide since the interest in this competition series seems to be huge.
RAW AIR means ten days of competition without a day off to regenerate. It is natural that the question comes up if this event is a danger to the athletes‘ health since it is taking part at the end of the winter with the season finale in Planica coming up only a few days later.
For more information visit rawair.no.
Vibeke Linn – „If we pull it together, we are able to make one big party.“
Vibeke Linn, who has been working on RAW AIR for the last six months, talked with us about the new scoring system, the challenge the organisers have to face and also about her plans regarding her position as the head of Social Media.
She also told us her personal opinion about RAW AIR which we want to share with you:
„I think it is a first timer, we all have so many things to learn, to explore and to share with the world. I think we are in a starting position, but at the same time, we only have a first try to make a good first impression. I love the name, the history behind it and I love the idea of it. I think if we pull it together, we are able to make one big party in all of our four hills!“
One of the big changes compared to normal ski jumping competitions is clearly the new scoring system which includes the qualification results in the overall ranking. Vibeke Linn thinks it is an exciting innovation and a huge improvement. She said that „people may think the old school way of ski jumping was boring and maybe a little too hard to keep up with.“ With this new system, the organisers hope to make the competitions „more intriguing and more exciting for both athletes and audience.“
RAW AIR will not only be a challenge for the athletes with ten days of competition but also the organisation of this event will take a lot of effort to make it an outstanding experience for the athletes and the spectators. Organising the transport will be a huge factor when it comes to getting RAW AIR up and running.
„To move so many teams, athletes, crew, equipment, tents, food – everything a ski jumper needs to work properly during a competition – that’s our biggest challenge“, explained Linn.
In addition, taking care of the right food will be an aspect that has to be focused on since „ski jumpers are people who do not eat just anything.“ To achieve this there are big plans for the catering so that the athletes will not have to „eat gummy bears and drink Coke the entire time“, added Vibeke jokingly.
We must not forget that there is also a lot happening in the background, things we cannot see from the outside. It might seem fun to travel through the country and watch ski jumping while taking care of the different social media channels. Working as the Head of Social Media is a huge responsibility.
About her plans and those responsibilities, Vibeke told us the following: „I have so many plans. Maybe a little too many plans. It is a huge responsibility. Not only to handle everything for Lillehammer as an event and hill, but also for the guys in the team. They need all the attention they will get and I hope to make the audience smile with our content online.“
Of course, our last question had to be if Vibeke thinks that RAW AIR can become as important as the 4-Hills-Tournament in the World Cup which she answered extensively:
„In the first years – no. The 4-Hills-Tournament is huge in ski jumping. We will not be able to compete with that. But that is not the goal either. We want to create something new. We want to have Kygo (editor’s note: Norwegian DJ/musician) with us on the hill, fire up the ski jumpers with real fire, we want to serve goat milk and invite the younger generation into our cities and hills, not the regular guests of our hills. We want to create a whole new generation of ski jumping fans, a whole new generation of ski jumping hills and a whole new generation of competitions. That is why it is called RAW AIR – because that is exactly what it is. It is RAW.“
Pictures: Newsskijumping, Vibeke Linn
Carolin Erbe | Dolores Lazič
Newsskijumping 