Czech Republic and Poland want to cooperate in organizing major ski competitions

The Czech Republic and Poland want to cooperate in organising international sports competitions at the Harrachov Nordic Ski Resort and the Lower Silesian Sports Centre Polana Jakuszycka. The memorandum was signed today by representatives of both sides in Karpacz, Poland, announced Andrea Fulková, the spokesperson of the Liberec Region. The Czech side hopes that after years it will be able to get money for the restoration of the dilapidated ski jumping hills in Harrachov.

"It is an expression of the will to jointly organize large ski races in the future using the infrastructure that has already been built on the Polish side at Polana Jakuszycka, with the proviso that it is perhaps a bit of an impulse to the ski association and the National Sports Agency, because the Harrachov ski jumping area has not changed much in the last ten years, perhaps even for the worse. On the Polish side, the infrastructure they talked about ten years ago as a plan has grown up," added Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region), who signed the memorandum on behalf of the region.

The Liberec Governor believes that the memorandum will be one of the supporting arguments in the search for money for the restoration of the Harrachov area. "To find some money to repair at least the small and medium-sized ski jumps so that they can be used for training children and youth, because the current state of ski jumping in the Czech Republic cannot make anyone happy," added the Liberec governor. According to earlier estimates, the complex would need over CZK 2.5 billion for a complete renovation.

There are five medium and large ski jumps in Harrachov, no other such complex for ski jumpers and combined jumpers in the Czech Republic. However, the ski jumping area is in very poor condition and most of the hills have been out of use in recent years. In order to save it, the association Ski and Tourist Buchar Club Harrachov was founded, which has put three small ski jumps, K-40, K-70 and K-90, into operation for the last seasons. The big hill with the critical point K-120 has been closed for about 15 years and the "mammoth" K-180 since 2014.

There has been talk of restoring the dilapidated area for years. "The restoration of the hills and the return of international competitions to Harrachov is beyond the financial possibilities of the town. It requires the cooperation of Harrachov, the Liberec Region and the NSA, which together should continue to negotiate with the Government of the Czech Republic," the mayor of Harrachov, Tomáš Vašíček (SNK - Change for Harrachov), said earlier.

Source: CTK