Turkey’s first and only ski jump was destroyed yesterday in landslide. The ski jump had been built for the 25th World University Winter Games which will be held in Erzurum, Turkey.
Officials from the regional sports directorate said the facility had been evacuated for safety reasons and the national team ski jump team had been barred from training there since the landslide began last weekend, the Milliyet newspaper reported.
Erol Mehmet Yarar, head of the Turkish Skiing Federation, said heavy rains that hit the region appear to have prompted the disaster, but added that the exact circumstances would be made clearer in an expert report.
The facility is situated at the base of Palandöken Mountain, known as the best in Turkey for skilled skiers.
The complex, which cost almost 600 million Turkish Liras in taxpayers money, consists of two jumping towers and a number of smaller slopes for training purposes.
It was inaugurated in 2011 by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and hosted the Winter Universiade sports event that year.
