How Many Sleeps until your first encounter of the season?

surfarthur wrote:Ally, am going to Japan because from Australia, it is much closer than America or Europe. Am going to a resort called Rusutsu on the northern island of Hokkaido hopefully to get some good deep powder. while much of Europe is missing out on decent snowfalls, Japan has had a pretty good season of snow so far, after a fairly late start to the season.

Thanks Surfarthur :D
I hope you have a great time. Please let us know how you get on and what you think of the resort.

Ally

Tony_H wrote:

OldAndy wrote:I was clocked at 130kph on the KL in Les Arcs = 80mph.

I have to say, I think thats b****cks. Sorry.

Sorry Tony, not b******s but I can't prove it. Blue Peter were filming an episode of Duncan Dares in Les Arcs in 1986 and they stayed in the hotel I was running.
Great fun was had by all.
My one and only descent of the KL happened as I said earlier and the guy at the finish said I had done 120-130kph. So I chose the higher figure :lol:

AllyG wrote:Hi Nelly,
I hope you have a great time in Niederau, and give a full report when you get back. I'd particularly like to know why there's such a split in opinion on the place. I'm so curious about it that I'd almost go there myself just to find out :lol:

Ally

I've read so much about N on here and have always dismissed it, then found a bargain (budget skiing this year) in N and I thought, well, you have to try it to have an opinion.

I was slightly concerned that having been to some of the worlds largest resorts and done 6 seasons this might be a bit dull and I'd be bored by Sunday lunchtime, but then I thought well, at least I'm going somewhere, I'll hire a board for a day or two (not done that for 3 years), perhaps have a day trip to Ski Welt and before I know it the week will be over.

I'm looking forward to it, its a holiday, I'll get to ski and will do a full report when I get home :)

OldAndy wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

OldAndy wrote:I was clocked at 130kph on the KL in Les Arcs = 80mph.

I have to say, I think thats b****cks. Sorry.

Sorry Tony, not b******s but I can't prove it. Blue Peter were filming an episode of Duncan Dares in Les Arcs in 1986 and they stayed in the hotel I was running.
Great fun was had by all.
My one and only descent of the KL happened as I said earlier and the guy at the finish said I had done 120-130kph. So I chose the higher figure :lol:

I'd say he'd either been drinking or was a serial liar. There is NO way in the world you could do that kind of speed. Even the top racers with specially prepared skis struggle to achieve those speeds.

Tony, I think you should do some research before you call other forum members and accredited timekeepers out.

The Les Arcs KL is open to the public for regular tourist descents.

From memory, and many trips to the Les Arcs area:

Everyone can make a descent on alpine skis or rent Speed skis:

Mini Medals are issued for 110kph: I know someone who has one. He's not a racer and was not using anything special to ski on.

I've seen many ordinary skiers descend this slope, and watched the time boards, over a number of years. Always fancied a go, never got the chance. You don't have to start from the top, it's seriously steep.

OldAndy,
I believe you :D

You are obviously a very accomplished skier and just being modest about your abilities.

I found this about the Verbier speed run:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/winter_sports/article3287787.ece

The guy in this article achieved 85 mph the first time he went down that run.

And there is a load about the Les Arcs speed run here, and about poor Caitlin Tovar (the womens GB champion speed skier) who died because she went out of control before she started and went down the mogul field instead:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=26204

There is absolutely no way I'd ever go anywhere near that run, and I totally take my hat off to Old Andy for having a go :D

Ally

This is a link to the lifetime membership list of the 200kph+ club. KL-France is a French organisation, many nations are represented on the list.

http://www.kl-france.com/fichiers/pdf/2009/200kphSpeedSkiClub.pdf

Home pages

http://www.kl-france.com/modules/edito/content.php?id=1&lang=english

Hats off to YoungAndy! I still have not broken 100kph, although I am getting close! I need to find a way to bend my knee, so I can tuck. Or have ago on KL.
Last week the British junior coach clocked 120kph on the Niederau speed gun. Ok, he started half way up the hill, but in the context of KL, allowed.
The world record is 251.4kph. One of my friends held the Britsh record at 222.3kph. His claim to fame is that he has skied faster than he has driven!
The record for a blind skier is double that of the aforementioned 80kph.

Respect, Andy!