FIS Ski Jumping World Cup Willingen

Mühlenkopfschanze – The World's Largest Large Hill

The Mühlenkopfschanze in Willingen (Upland) is the world's largest large hill – with a hill size of 145 meters and a K-point of 130 meters. While most ski jumping facilities are either large hills OR ski flying hills, Willingen's dimensions place it in a unique intermediate category. This is precisely what makes the Ski Jumping World Cup here a must-attend event on the winter sports calendar.

A German Ski Jumping Stronghold

Willingen, a community of about 6,000 inhabitants in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district of the Hessian Sauerland region, becomes a ski jumping mecca at the end of January/beginning of February. Up to 35,000 spectators attend annually (with up to 23,500 on the main competition day, Saturday), creating the famous "Willinger Wahnsinn" (Willingen Madness) atmosphere. The sporting event is also a Volksfest (popular festival).

Men and Women Simultaneously – A Rarity on the Calendar

A special feature of the Willingen World Cup: Men's and women's competitions take place concurrently. This is unusual in the international ski jumping calendar, as most venues host only one gender. In 2026, a mixed team competition will be added on Friday.

Olympics 2026 – Final Test Before Milano-Cortina

The 2026 Willingen World Cup is the final major dress rehearsal before the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. This makes the event even more significant: While the Olympic qualification pathways are already closed, the form of the Olympic hopefuls will be showcased one last time on the Mühlenkopfschanze before the grand stage in Northern Italy.

Favorites 2026

The favorite among the men is Domen Prevc (Slovenia), currently the dominant figure, and for the women, his sister Nika Prevc – winner of 13 out of 21 individual competitions this season. From a German perspective, focus will be on Philipp Raimund and Felix Hoffmann for the men, and Selina Freitag (sixth in the season) and Katharina Schmid for the women, who is ending her career after this season (Willingen winner in 2023).

Ticketing and Travel

Tickets are available in the range of €15 to €69 depending on the day and category. Saturday, the most popular day, only has standing room tickets left. For arrival, your own car (Park-and-Ride with shuttle) or a special bus from Korbach train station is recommended.