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Speed
Rules OK.
As with
all sports, there are a minority who, for whatever reason feel they
must push their chosen sport to the limit. We admire them, envy
them, and sometimes curse them. We have to admit that, if it were
not for the likes of such people, the skibike's evolution into the
sophisticated machine it now is, would probably never have happened.
The
Flying Kilometer.
This
is, probably the most dangerous event that skibikers or for that
matter, skiers, could participate in:
The procedure is simple, you find the steepest and longest piste
you can, then smooth and compact the snow to as near perfection
as possible, this is usually done by hand as the piste is too steep
for mechanical piste preparation machines. When the surface is considered
suitable, 2 electronic timing gates are added, set .5 of a kilometer
apart, they are usually in the lower part of the prepared piste.
The
object of the exercise is to skibike down the piste at maximum speed,
and through the timing gates, the time spent between the gates is
recorded and then converted into kilometers per hour (km/h) /miles
per hour (mph). Should the participants be lucky enough to survive
the first run, they then have to do it all again, the combined times
of the 2 runs are then used to calculate the average speed attained
for a kilometer.
The
two main venues for this event are: Cervinia (Italy) and Les Arcs
(France). We have seen the run in Cervinia and would not recommend
walking down it on the summer grass, let alone skibike it on what
is usually sheet ice, it is horrendously steep and long. We feel
a more sensible way of descending it would be by parachute.
We believe
the current world speed record holder for skiing The Flying Kilometer
is: Jeffrey Hamilton (USA), who achieved a speed of 150.028 mph
(241.448 km/h) in Vars (France) 1995.
You
will notice there is a rather large gap between the skibike world
speed record, 108 mph (173 km/h), and the world speed record for
skiing, 150.028 mph (241.448 km/h), this we feel sure, is down to
ski dynamics, not the courage or stamina of the respective participants.
The longer the skis the faster you go, as they say, and skiers at
this level of the sport will use skis far longer than can be used
on a skibike.
Skibike
Record Holders.
The
skibike record for the flying kilometer, was held for many years,
by: Erich Brenter (Austria), who back in 1964 reached an average
speed of 103.4 mph (166 km/h) in Cervinia (Italy). And in the process,
gained an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
The current record holder is: Romuald Bonvin (Switzerland), who
in 1999 broke Erich Brenter's world record, by achieving a speed
of 108 mph (173 km/h) in Les Arcs (France). Guinness Book of Records.
World
Skibike Titles.
To our
knowledge the record holder in the women's section, for the most
individual and combined skibike titles is: Petra Tschach Wlezcek
(Austria), who gained 4 titles between 1988/1991.
In the
men's section, Jacek
Stalmach was 4x World Champion. In 1995 became a triple World Champion
in Skibob. Slalom, Super ski and Combination. In the Giant Slalom
he became joint-champion. He went on to defend that title the following
year. Jacek now produces his own range of high quality skibikes.
Walter
Kronseil (Saalbach/Hinterglemm Austria), gained 3 world titles between
1988/1990. For his achievements his sponsors (Keeda) presented him
with a gold plated Skibike, we have seen the bike and it looks very
impressive indeed, but it must be considerably heavier than the
production version.
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