Photo essay: Inside the daredevil world of skiing’s fastest sport

Ski tips hang precariously over open air. Below, a slope pitched at a dizzyingly steep 45 degrees has been immaculately designed to allow skiers to achieve speeds on a par with a Grand Prix motorcycle.

In the start gate, Jan Farrell adjusts his carbon fibre helmet and fights to steady his pulse. His bright red polyurethane suit is stretched over his body like a second skin, the only protection between him and a 200-kilometre-an-hour slide for life.

A fall at these speeds can result in second-degree burns – caused by the friction between skin and snow – or worse.

With speeds exceeding 200km/hour, speed skiers can barely focus beyond five metres. The sport was deemed too dangerous for the Olympics after several deaths.

But Farrell can’t focus on that, nor the crash he sustained at a contest in 2016 that left him burned and bruised for weeks. He can only focus straight down, a single kilometre of adrenaline-pumping skiing standing between him and World Cup glory. Taking a few more deep breaths, he readies his poles, and drops into oblivion.

This is speed skiing – the fastest non-motorised sport on the planet and the wildest human thrill ride. Less technical than its alpine cousins, speed skiing was created by adrenaline junkies and perfected by purists, with athletes capable of reaching speeds topping 250 kilometres per hour.

Grandvalira’s metal-scaffolding start ramp is designed to help the world’s best speed skiers gain a few extra kilometres an hour on the slope.

Today, Farrell joins a dedicated group of over 60 athletes from around the world at the World Cup Championships at Grandvalira Resort in Andorra. The mountainous country sandwiched between France and Spain, and just a two and a half hour drive from Barcelona, has more kilometres of ski slope than highway, and has become the annual host of speed skiing’s biggest hour.

On the line is not only a World Cup Championship, but the overall World Cup title, upping the tension on an otherwise pleasant sunny afternoon in the Pyrenees (a separate World Championship event was contested earlier in the season in Vars, France).

With Farrell safely at the bottom, one after another, skiers drop from the vertiginous start gate, each determined to satiate a primal need for speed as they pursue the ultimate limit.

Race preparation includes long days in the wax room. 2019 World Champion Simone Origone is seen here applying wax to reduce the friction between his skis and the icy slope.

Speed skiers wear specially fitted fairings on their legs to reduce wind drag at high speed. In many cases, these are handmade from everyday objects.

Italian speed skier Simone Origone practises his pose while making a few last-minute checks to his equipment before racing day.

The artwork on a speed ski helmet is often the only way to differentiate speed skiers. They are built to perform like the nose of an airplane.

Speed skis measure close to 240cm and have nearly no tip rise, a design meant to prevent the wind from sending it – and the skier – airborne.

A skier drops into a run at the World Cup Championship, which takes place every year in the Andorran Pyrenees. Around 2.5 hours by train from Barcelona, the tiny country of Andorra has hosted the championship for over half a decade and will do so again next year.

An aerodynamic body position can be the difference between claiming victory and a devastating crash.

Swiss skier Philippe May takes the spoils on Day 1 of the competition. The official men’s world record is 254.958 km/h set by Ivan Origone, Simone’s brother, in 2016.

Italian fans celebrate as Valentina Greggio claims the top spot at the 2017 World Cup. Greggio also currently holds the women’s world speed record.

Singapore Airlines flies direct to Barcelona five times weekly. To book a flight, visit singaporeair.com

SEE ALSO: Beyond the slopes: Activities to enjoy at some of the world’s best ski resorts

This article was originally published in the December 2019 issue of SilverKris magazine

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