Before the Four Hills Tournament, seven individual competitions had already been completed in the World Cup. The season started at the end of November 2011 in Kuusamo , Finland .
Overall World Cup before the Four Hills Tournament
The opening competition for the 60th Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf took place on December 30, 2011. Due to heavy snowfall and changing conditions, the first round was restarted after the jury's decision. Until then, the Japanese Daiki Itō was leading the German and Austrian favorites with 138.0 meters.
The daily winners each received 10,000 Swiss francs (approx. 8,200 €), the overall winner Gregor Schlierenzauer received an additional 20,000 Swiss francs (approx. 16,400 €).
For the first time, the organizers have awarded a prize of 1 million Swiss francs (approx. € 820,000) to the winner of all four competitions. Sven Hannawald was the only athlete to have succeeded in this up to this point in the 2001/02 Four Hills Tournament ; back then without a bonus.