The highest speed on the ski slope, according to the France Ski de Vitesse organization, was developed on March 31, 2014 in the French town of Var by the Italian athlete Simone Origone. Its record makes 252.454 kilometers per hour. The Italian acts in alpine skiing discipline of "speed skiing" which isn't entering so far the program of the Olympic Games.
Runs on speed
Speed skiing or downhill racing on skis on the direct hillside — the fastest of motorless sports on the land. Skiers regularly exceed the indicator of 200 kilometers per hour that there is even more than the speed of free fall of the parachutist — about 190 km/h.
Runs on speed are carried out on specially developed tracks of one kilometer. Such tracks of about thirty worldwide. Tracks, as a rule, in the mountain area are located to minimize air resistance.
The track is divided into three sites. On the first 300-400 meters the racer tries to gain speed. The maximum speed is measured on the following 100 meters — time zone. And on the last 500 are intended for delay and the dead stop. The skiers participating in runs on speed use special suits from tight latex and aerodynamic helmets to reduce air resistance. They also have to provide the certain defense in case of falling. Special skis have to be 240 centimeters in length and no more than 10 centimeters width. The weight of couple shouldn't exceed 15 kilograms.
Speed records
The first official competitions in "speed skiing" took place in 1930. Austrian Léo Gasperl who dispersed up to 139 km/h became the author of the first record the same year. In the sixties the Italian town of Cherviniya became Mecca of high-speed skis. Every year there came the best masters, regularly improving speed records. Italian Luigi di Marco reached 175 km/h, Japanese Morishito — 180. Technical progress didn't stand still. In the seventies there were new tracks, speeds considerably increased. In 1978 on Portillo Track in Chile American Steve Mc Kinney overcame, seeming inaccessible, the indicator in 200 kilometers per hour. In the eighties the French ski resort Lez-Ark turned into new Mecca of high-speed skis. Here and also on other French Var Track, speed records repeatedly improved. Today records belong, among men, to Italian Simone Origona - 252.454 km/h and, among women, the Swedish sportswoman Sanne Tidstrand is 242.590 km/h. In the Lez-Ark in 1992 there took place demonstration performances in discipline of "speed skiing" within the Olympic Games in Albertville.