Speed skiing

From Free net encyclopedia

Speed skiing is the sport of skiing fastest in a straight line downhill. It is the fastest non-motorized sport on earth, and the world's second fastest non-motorized sport (the fastest being speed skydiving, with speeds of over 300mph, assuming that the airplane is not considered to be equipment integral to the jumper).

Speed skiers wear dense foam fairings on their lower legs and aerodynamic helmets to increase streamlining. Their ski suits are made from air-tight latex or have a polyurethane coating to cut wind resistance, with only a mandatory back protector to give some protection in the case of a crash.

The special skis used must be between 2.2 and 2.4 metres (94.5 inches) long and maximum 10cm wide and 15kg for the pair. ski boots are attached to the skis by bindings. The ski poles are bent to shape around the body, and must be a minimum of 1m long.

Speed skiing is practiced on steep, specially designed courses one kilometer long, and there are only about thirty of them world-wide, many of them at high altitude to minimize resistance from the air. The first 300 or 400 meters of the course (the launching area) are used to gain speed, the top speed is measured in the next 100 meters and the last 500 m (the run-out area) are used for slowing down and coming to a stop, with the speed being recorded over the 100 m between (the timing zone). The start point in FIS races is chosen so that, in theory, skiers should not exceed 200 km/h, hence competition is aimed at winning a particular event, not breaking world speed records. At Pro [1]races, there is no maximum speed and the speed attained is determined by conditions and safety.

Speed skiing was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Winter Olympics at Albertville.