The story of how 100,000 Londoners flocked to Hampstead Heath to marvel at an unlikely spectacle.
In February, athletes from around the world will gather in northern Italy for the Winter Olympics, where one of the biggest draws will be the ski jumping.
This is a sport where British pursuits are normally restricted to the role of the plucky loser, most famously Eddie the Eagle.
Yet wind the clock back to the early 1950s, and there were ski jumpers soaring through the skies above London's Hampstead Heath — and 100,000 Londoners flocking there to watch them.
The first competition, jointly organised by the Ski Club of Great Britain and the Oslo Ski Association, took place on the weekend of 24 and 25 March 1950.
Organisers built an 18m (59ft) high jump from scaffolding in the north-west corner of the heath.
Much like today, snow in London was a rarity.
This meant 45 tonnes of snow had to be imported from Norway, packed into wooden boxes and insulated with dry ice, then transported to the heath via refrigerated barges and lorries.
This was brought to the UK by the Norwegian skiers who were coming over to compete.
Former British alpine skier Ingrid Christophersen grew up in Norway, and remembers her father coming to Britain to commentate on the Hampstead Heath event.
She pointed out that the post-war period was a difficult time for Norwegians.
"It surprises me that Norway not only had the money, but also the energy to send tonnes of snow and a troupe of Norwegian ski jumpers to London.
"Norway was on its knees. There had been 400,000 soldiers occupying the country for five years, and there was nothing left in Norway - nothing in the shops, nowhere to live."
A 10cm layer of snow was packed down on top of a base layer of straw, although there was not enough snow to cover the whole slope.
This meant only a narrow channel could be laid along the centre of the ramp.
Ms Christphersen said that, although the jump was not particularly big, this made it particularly dangerous.
"What worries me when I see the footage is the very narrow run-out, because you couldn't really land, and the scaffolding.
"If there was any wind and they had moved left and right, there would have been quite a tragedy."
Come competition day, some 100,000 spectators came to the heath to watch, with traffic at a standstill and Hampstead Tube station unable to cope.
Despite an unseasonably warm March, with vapour from the melting snow even visible in pictures, the event was a success.
The main competition was the London Challenge Cup, won by 23-year-old Norwegian Arne Hoel with a flight of 28m (91ft 10ins).
He was one of Norway's most successful jumpers of the era, as a three-time winner of the ski jumping event at Oslo's prestigious Holmenkollen Ski Festival in 1948, 1951 and 1959.
"Arne Hoel was one of our heroes in Norway at the time," Ms Christophersen said.
The jump returned in 1951, with a 6m (19ft 8ins) higher slope than the year before and an extra 15 tonnes of snow.
Sadly, the wettest start to the year for 80 years meant it was something of a washout, with heavy rain turning the snow to slush.
Nonetheless, in the true British spirit, the organisers persevered despite the weather, and Hoel returned to defend his title with a jump of 35.5m (116ft 6ins).
This was the last time ski jumping came to Hampstead Heath — but not the last time it came to Britain, or even London.
The Norwegians ran another demonstration in Edinburgh in April 1951, while in 1960, two Norwegian students at the University of Manchester organised their own event.
The sport then returned to London in 1961 with the biggest event on British soil (or snow) yet, at the home of English football: Wembley Stadium.
Organised by Eastbourne MP Sir Charles Taylor, a scaffolding tower of 46m (150ft 11ins) was constructed and 50 tonnes of artificial snow used for the International Ski Jumping Contest.
This featured 40 of the best ski jumpers from across Europe, raising money for the Ski Club of Great Britain.
Surprisingly, this event took place at the start of summer, on 31 May and 1 June 1961.
The overall winner was Finland's Veikko Kankkonen, who went on to take Olympic gold in 1964.
A British team also participated at Wembley, with Alex Sykes jumping the furthest of his compatriots, with an impressive distance of 27.4m (90ft).
Since then, it is Eddie the Eagle, rather than Hampstead Heath or Wembley Stadium, that has become synonymous with British ski jumping.
But perhaps next year Norway could be persuaded to swap its traditional gift of a Christmas tree for one more ski jumping demonstration in London, and put Britain back on the map as a ski jumping location to be taken seriously.
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Category: General Sports
