How fast have you gone on skis?

[pwd72s]

YouTube - Bonneville Car-Top Skiers World Record

[911Rob]

a guy who used to work for me is a local ski instructor and racer; at 260Lbs, all muscle he would dress up in spandex and get over 100Km/Hr (60MPH), one mistake was a guaranteed trip to the hospital, usually unconscious.

[Tim Hancock]

Probably never more than maybe 40 mph on 200mm skiis. I have schussed in a tuck the steepest "groomed" slopes in upper Michigan along with Holiday Valley and Killington. While some may think they are really flying, it is difficult to reach higher speeds unless on icy "very" steep slopes which are generally not found at most ski resorts.

[vash]

i have gone very fast "with" my skiis. not so fast, "on" my skiis. i need to revisite that fiasco soon. great time!

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

Probably never more than maybe 40 mph on 200mm skiis. I have schussed in a tuck the steepest "groomed" slopes in upper Michigan along with Holiday Valley and Killington. While some may think they are really flying, it is difficult to reach higher speeds unless on icy "very" steep slopes which are generally not found at most ski resorts.

Take the summit single to the top of whiteface.

[sammyg2]

I got close to 75 mph in my younger years.
My brother introduced me to a guy named Danny Churchill who used to be the world record holder on a ski and barefoot and held the record for Catalina and back.

He had a place on the lake and I went up there a few times, and he gave me just enough instruction to get hooked speed-skiing. The guy was incredible.

Unfortunately I had a back operation when I was 25 and that killed that, but not until after I bought a K-boat.
Eventually I turned it into a drag boat after I gave up on the skiing thing.

[BeyGon]

I used to ski a lot at Alta and sometimes Snowbird, we sometimes thought we were going fast but it is just a perception, my wife thought she went too fast on the bunny slopes. I looked at skiing as I looked at motorcycle racing, only fear and common sense hold you back. And with motorcycles, sometimes wrist paralysis.

[sammyg2]

I just did a search on Danny Churchill and found this story. Danny kind of mentioned it but played it down, I didn't realize it was that serious:

I guess a lot of people have forgotten the details of Churchill's crash at Long Beach Marine Stadium. If anybody still has a very old Powerboat Magazine (May 1974) laying around, I did a six-page story with photos of the crash. Way too much information to give here but the "Reader's Digest" version goes something like this. Danny set a new quarter mile speed record of 126 mph at an NDBA drag race at the old Oakland Airport course in spring of 1972 pulled by Mac Christensen. He knew this was an incredibly dangerous sport and was offered an opportunity to try out a new parachute pack which would help him decelerate and be pulled back away from the ski in the event of a crash. He tested the new device with good success. Then came October 22, 1972 (he won the Catalina ski race that previous August) at Long Beach Marine Stadium. He was paid $300 for the exhibition and an additional $200 if he broke the record. Everything was out of synch for him that day....he arrived way behind schedule to the Stadium -- no time to prepare -- he never got a chance to talk to his driver (Christensen) before the run. About 100 feet before the end of the course, Danny got pulled over the front of his ski at 120+. He did a snap forward somersault so quickly that the shroud lines of the parachute went between his legs and then the parachute opened. The injuries were catastrophic -- his pelvis was split over 13 inches and damage to internal organs extensive. He lost over 13 pints of blood before he got to the hospital. He was at Long Beach Community for eleven weeks and he wasn't getting better (pneumonia, extensive hemorrhaging, allergic reactions to medication, bed sores, etc.). Fortunately he was finally transferred to UCLA Medical Center for more surgeries. Eight months after the crash, and still on crutches, he skied at the River with the help of some friends. After 18 months and 16 separate surgeries he was finally able to resume a near normal life and that's when he sat down for the interview for the story. He never returned to ski racing as a competitor, but he did regain most of his skills and was (and still is) one of the best hot-dog skiers of all time.

[gtc]

I'm just learning to ski. I probably hit 20mph last week. It was awesome.

[Rikao4]

a good rule to follow..
you go as fast as your willing to fall/wipe-out..
ignored it one year in Utah..
my elbow was still spitting rock chips a year later..

Rika

[911Rob]

Rob's ski tips.... not really a fast skier though, but steep; bring it on!

[serge944]

Kirkwood has what they call "high angle grooming" where they have to winch a cat up to the top of "The Wall." You go stupid fast when you straightline it. Stiff, damp skis are a must.

Give me a 20ft cliff and bottomless pow - that's the kind of skiing I enjoy.

[ODDJOB UNO]

in my youth somewheres around mid 70's colleges BANNED downhill racing. too many deaths. so this left for me either GS or SLALOM. well i got damn tired hitting slalom gates and running into them and felt my life expectancy would be longer running GS(giant slalom) and wayyy more fun. and it was.

Fischer C-4 comps 195cm
Kniessel GS -215cm
K-2 comps-205cm
Dynamic comps-210cm

i learned as a kid and took to it like a duck to water. went all over colorado for almost 4 years. our training was at lake eldora and we had season lift tickets there. we set up classes for the semester to ski early morning and be back to class or class early am and ski from 4-5pm until 10pm. eldora had night skiing.


btwn dirty bikes during the summer and skiing during the winter i could kick ass and take names with the best. got to meet billy kidd/hank kashiwa/spider sabich before that ***** claudine longet shot him and a host of other groovy people from around the planet.

how fast did we go?????? a HELL OF ALOT FASTER than i WANTED TO MANY TIMES! had my share of taking bark off of trees or blowing corners on ice. will never ferget the sound of ice under my boards! crashed ALOT and managed nothing worse than bad sprains and a few cuts and bruises from windmilling skis. the worst crash was spring skiing at loveland in shorts wearing no shirt/higher than a kite drunk and sliding down a very very very steep incline and getting STRAWBERRIED TO HELL! man that juan HURT! i was MR SCAB!

black diamond runs were an excuse to bet who would buy the beer.


when you do it 6 days a week for seasons................man ya get good. the best powder areas were the back bowls of vail and steamboat. steamboat was and still is SNORKEL POWDER thru the trees. unreal above yer head snow in places.


most fun area and best bang fer buck...............winterpark,colorado. take the train!

and thats how i rolled!(GOGAR-IZM)

[Dave L]

On my Arbor snowboard - 80km/h according to the GPS on my N95.

[slodave]

About 75 mph in a tuck on a small downhill course. I'll see if I can find a gps app for my iPhone that will give me speeds.

[911Rob]

speed-o-meter for an iPhone App Dave.
that's very fast, be careful

[gatotom]

Considering one of my former jobs in this life was a professional ski racer in the early 70's, not much of a downhill racer mostly slalom and giant slalom.

Downhill racing is scary business, I raced in the downhill in Aspen and Vail to name a few. My last downhill was in Vail were I was coming into a big sweeper onto International run and both my tips blow off from the compression, somewhere in the 70 mph range, that was my last downhill. damn those 225cm K2 skis.

In the 90's I was a Technical Delegate for ski races, basically I ran a race and I did TD a speed race at Willamete Pass were the winner got over 100 mph, most impressive. I also witnessed a racer standing up too soon after he went thru the speed traps at that speed your body is like a sail. They flew him to the hospital in a helo.

Now you know the reason I have been driving Porsches since the late 60's, a total triple X double A. I attribute my skiing to driving, come into the turn hi above the gate and ride the rail. Skiing is a awesome sport, I still ski every week during the season, just not as long anymore, knees are kinda shot.

If anyone out there wants a pair of 225 cm Dynamic downhill skis, very fast skis, let me know, comes with no warranty, use at your own risk, they are beasts to turn under 50 mph but O' so sweet at speed.

[Joe Bob]

Originally Posted by gatotom

Considering one of my former jobs in this life was a professional ski racer in the early 70's, not much of a downhill racer mostly slalom and giant slalom.

Downhill racing is scary business, I raced in the downhill in Aspen and Vail to name a few. My last downhill was in Vail were I was coming into a big sweeper onto International run and both my tips blow off from the compression, somewhere in the 70 mph range, that was my last downhill. damn those 225cm K2 skis.

In the 90's I was a Technical Delegate for ski races, basically I ran a race and I did TD a speed race at Willamete Pass were the winner got over 100 mph, most impressive. I also witnessed a racer standing up too soon after he went thru the speed traps at that speed your body is like a sail. They flew him to the hospital in a helo.

Now you know the reason I have been driving Porsches since the late 60's, a total triple X double A. I attribute my skiing to driving, come into the turn hi above the gate and ride the rail. Skiing is a awesome sport, I still ski every week during the season, just not as long anymore, knees are kinda shot.

If anyone out there wants a pair of 225 cm Dynamic downhill skis, very fast skis, let me know, comes with no warranty, use at your own risk, they are beasts to turn under 50 mph but O' so sweet at speed.

What kinda bindings?

I went skiing last week......I miss my 227cm Volkls......

[ODDJOB UNO]

Originally Posted by gatotom

Considering one of my former jobs in this life was a professional ski racer in the early 70's, not much of a downhill racer mostly slalom and giant slalom.

Downhill racing is scary business, I raced in the downhill in Aspen and Vail to name a few. My last downhill was in Vail were I was coming into a big sweeper onto International run and both my tips blow off from the compression, somewhere in the 70 mph range, that was my last downhill. damn those 225cm K2 skis.

In the 90's I was a Technical Delegate for ski races, basically I ran a race and I did TD a speed race at Willamete Pass were the winner got over 100 mph, most impressive. I also witnessed a racer standing up too soon after he went thru the speed traps at that speed your body is like a sail. They flew him to the hospital in a helo.

Now you know the reason I have been driving Porsches since the late 60's, a total triple X double A. I attribute my skiing to driving, come into the turn hi above the gate and ride the rail. Skiing is a awesome sport, I still ski every week during the season, just not as long anymore, knees are kinda shot.

If anyone out there wants a pair of 225 cm Dynamic downhill skis, very fast skis, let me know, comes with no warranty, use at your own risk, they are beasts to turn under 50 mph but O' so sweet at speed.

yep unspeakable unintelligible SPEEDS! asking me how fast, is kind of like "what the hell do ya think i'm doing? looking at my watch?"

i can say this much, usually in a season i had shredded the inside ankles of my ski pants from my edges catching them over and over.day after day. we used to drink to excess and wax and sharpen our edges beyond belief. it was a weekly thing on monday nights (.05 cents a draw coors 3.2 %). without edges its yer ass BIG TIME when ICE becomes a factor. as i said hearing ICE under my edges still makes me shudder and makes my SPHINCTER SLAM SHUT!

one of our favorite gigs was the bud cup in aspen. the whose who of factory racers from around the globe. wayy cool to watch and it was some ser-i-ass good times.

skiing for fun is just that, FUN! when collegiate racing...........well alot of "my kung fu is stronger than your kung fu" crap came out and it very much seemed like a bloodsport alot of times. my roommate had a grudge against this guy from boulder and all they did when they met was go for the throat time after time, and to be honest no buddy gave a rats ass except them.

all i did was try to SURVIVE and come home in JUAN (1) FREEKING PIECE! ski racing is a brutal sport to the body and most dont last very long before injuries take over. like i mentioned during the summers dirty bikes and the winter we was skiing our buns off. to say we were BUFFED was an understatement. oh to be in that shape today, 30 years later!

get this............i was selling TURQUOISE INDIAN JEWLERY thru my 3.5. years at regis college and MADE A KILLING selling it to GOOFY EAST COAST HIPPIE CHICKS and kawboy PEUDNERS who laked BIG BELT BUCKLES with blue rocks in them from airy-zoney! my life back then was skiing/school(very very little)/dirty bikes/chasing skirts. and i will always remember the OVER THE TOP FUN WE HAD IN COLORADO!

to this day i love watching mogul busting/GS championships!

P.S. TRY SKIING AT NIGHT...........ask me how i know! ask me how COLD? ask me how many times i got stuck on broken down lifts? ask me how many times i jumped off of chairlifts because i was FREEZING TO DEATH!?

and thats how we ROLLED! (GOGAR-IZM)

[ODDJOB UNO]

Originally Posted by 911Rob

Rob's ski tips.... not really a fast skier though, but steep; bring it on!

very cool picture!