Sun Peaks (BC), Canada – Does skiing down a steep and icy mountain at over 105 m.p.h. sound like a good time to you? Well it does for 50 of the world’s fastest skiers as racers from 10 countries will converge on the Headwalls Speed Skiing Track at Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia for the 2013 FIS Speed Ski World Cup presented by the Zimmer Autogroup, to be held from February 28 to March 3.
These daring men and women put the extreme in extreme sports and think that to turn is to admit defeat. Dressed in skin tight rubber suits, wearing eight foot long skis and “Darth Vader” looking helmets, these intrepid souls compete in the fastest non-motorized sport on earth and there is only one way to the bottom – straight down. In its 22nd year, this unique and extremely fast ski race is the only event of its kind outside of Europe and Sun Peaks Resort is the only ski resort in North America to host a FIS Speed Ski World Cup event.
“In the mid-1980’s there was a bunch of local skiers competing in recreational speed skiing events around B.C. and Alberta and they decided to host a race at Tod Mountain. Back in the early days we would prepare the course with only shovels and rakes and basically race each other for bragging rights and beer,” says Adam Earle, event organizer and long time speed skier. “In 2002 we hosted our first FIS World Cup event and the rest, as they say, is history. Now we are the only speed skiing event in North America and all the fastest skiers in the world come to test their mettle on the Headwall Speed Track.”
While the Sun Peaks event is not the fastest on the FIS World Cup circuit, racers encounter blind rolls making for a unique and challenging course.
“The World Record on skis is 251.4 km/h (155 mph), but we won’t hit that at Sun Peaks. The record at Sun Peaks is a relatively slow 177.21 km/h (110 mph),” says Earle. “Unlike the long steep flat concave tracks in Europe, our course is shorter than most and is convex with two blind rolls and a very short finish area. Racers will go from 0 to over 170 km/h in about eight seconds and then back to 0 km/h in another eight seconds.”