Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 21, 1992 TAG: 9202210079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT MILLARD ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LES ARCS, FRANCE LENGTH: Medium
WHOOSH! AND THEN YOU HAVE TO STOP
It's the fastest way a human can travel without motorized power - faster than free-falling from a plane, say those who would know.It's called speed skiing, and the sport is trying to make a name for itself at the Winter Olympics.
There's nothing new about speed skiing; it's been around for some 120 years. But with their Darth Vader helmets and airtight ski suits, modern-day speed skiers race along at 130 mph - for all of two seconds.
Stepping from a plane will hurtle you toward earth about 10 mph slower, and for a considerably longer time.
With no gates, turns or bumps, speed skiing becomes a simple business: zipping down a smooth 70-degree slope as quickly as possible, with the skiers' speed measured between two points only 100 meters apart.
That's why a run only lasts two seconds.
The skiers spend 500 meters building up to maximum speed and another 800 trying to slow down. That's assuming they don't crash.
The Olympics is having its first look at the sport, which is a demonstration event at the Albertville Games. Though staged at the most popular speed skiing venue, it did not get off to a good start Thursday.
Swiss skier Valerie Gomez was first down the slope. She crashed when her left ski came off in the middle of the 100-meter stretch.
Gomez slid some 60 meters, far enough to cross the line and collect a score. She was taken off on the course on a stretcher towed by a snowmobile, but reported later she had suffered little more than friction burns and lost pride.
American skier Dale Womack, from Vail, Colo., said competitors didn't worry about getting injured. They don't have time to.
"You don't worry about the tire blowing when you drive the car. There are far too many other things to think about," he said.
"All you think about it keeping your skis flat on the snow and keeping your tuck position as low as possible. If you slip and your skis leave the snow you lose time," Womack said.
Gravity is a skier's main ally in speed skiing, although technology helps.
American ski coach Jack Nance explained how the skiers seek the most aerodynamically helpful helmets and suits, but are restricted to using skis that are a maximum 240 centimeters long.
"We actually get very little help from the ski industry, but it's a sport that's only just gathering speed," Nance said.
"And it's not that these skiers are wild, young people. They are regular guys usually 25 or more, normal people who just want to ski fast. Some people can go fast. Others can't," Nance continued.
"These people not only want to ski fast. They want to ski even faster," Nance said.
The United States had the world's fastest speed skier in Steve McKinney until he died in a car crash. McKinney was the brother of Tamara McKinney, who won the combined Alpine ski title at the World Championship at Vail in 1989.
Now the world record-holder is Frenchman Michael Prufer, whose mark is 139.03 mph. He also won last year's World Cup and is favored to retain it when it starts up next month.
Amy Guras, a 30-year-old skier from Breckenridge, Colo, said getting used to the high speeds took a while.
"But you have to like speed," she said. "It's an adrenalin rush. Every time you go down it makes you want to do it again."