Women's Two Nights Tour: 'alibi tour' or Four Hills stepping stone?

The German women's ski jumping team has somewhat mixed feelings about their upcoming inaugural Two Nights Tour at the two German venues for the men's Four Hills tournament.

The women will compete on Saturday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and on Monday, New Year's Day, in Oberstdorf.

The men's order is the other way round, first Oberstdorf on Friday and then Garmisch on Monday, to be followed by the Austrian venues of Innsbruck on January 3 and Bischofshofen January 6.

The women have calling for a full Four Hills tournament of their own but the Austrian ski federation is yet to commit. There are logistical problems, and Austria also has an early January World Cup stop in Villach for the women on a multi-year contract.

"I'm really looking forward to the Two Nights Tour, even if it's not yet a Four Hills tournament for us - I almost can't hear myself say it any more," multiple world champion Katharina Schmid said in a German team statement on Tuesday.

"In the end we have to take what we get," she had previously said.

Team-mate Luisa Görlich said: "I'm really pleased that the Two Nights Tour is starting, that we're also at home in Germany with these competitions - and that we're starting a tour of our own. I hope the Austrians will follow suit next year."

Sven Hannawald, the last German to win the Four Hills back in 2002, also called for a full women's tour.

"If there is a women's tour, then it's the original one. It starts in Oberstdorf and ends in Bischofshofen. I don't think much of setting up an alibi tour and then doing something all over the place," added Hannawald.

Having the men and women compete at the same venue and possibly the same day could prove tricky for reasons ranging from accommodation to the absence of floodlights in Innsbruck which allow only daylight events.

Hannawald said it should still be possible to have men and women jump on the same day from the same hill but Norwegian men's team coach Alexander Stöckl is not so sure.

"If you say you do the same stops - the women in the morning, the men in the afternoon: nobody benefits. What does the spectator do? They won't stand at the hill from morning to night, certainly not," Stöckl said.

"It's a challenge for the organisers themselves. Who do you cancel first in bad weather? Yes, of course, the women. But you shouldn't do that."

There have also been suggestions to compete in the reverse venue order of the men, starting in Bischofshofen and finishing in Oberstdorf.

German jumper Selina Freitag remains upbeat that they will have a full tour soon, and sees the Two Nights Tour as a stepping stone.

"We just want to have a cool competition to make it happen as soon as possible that we can jump together with the men," the team world champion said.