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from the ladies this year was 244kph by<br />
Swedish Britta Buckland which was enough<br />
to give her the Swedish ladies speed record<br />
and Valentina finished with a speed of<br />
244kph. It's interesting that the women were<br />
a little off the WR this year compared to the<br />
men, I think this may have been because<br />
of the snow condition. The best conditions<br />
is well transformed snow, that is old snow,<br />
and this year the conditions were not quite<br />
there, There is a lot more competition<br />
amongst the men also so this constant<br />
pushing between the athletes has also<br />
increased the speed difference between the<br />
men and the ladies.<br />
What happens when it goes wrong?<br />
If you are lucky not to break anything in<br />
your body you will still have friction burns<br />
and bruising...Most people will hurt their<br />
shoulders or knees. Your skis usually<br />
explode when they hit the snow from end<br />
to end, your suit can get ripped, the outer<br />
shell of the helmet detaches from the inner<br />
protective helmet, usually also cracks and<br />
needs work to fix. Also poles tend to break<br />
as well, sometimes damage to the fairings<br />
we wear underneath the suit behind our<br />
boots. Then you will have your mind to<br />
deal with. Some people will take weeks,<br />
months to recover, some people never do.<br />
Then there is the odd animal that will get<br />
back up and be on his feet ready to go the<br />
next day<br />
Have you had any major accidents?<br />
I have not crashed in speed skiing yet.<br />
I know its coming for me at some point.<br />
The closer you want to get to the leader<br />
the tighter the tuck has to be, the tighter<br />
the tuck the less travel the legs will have<br />
meaning less ability to absorb the hollow<br />
and bumps. The way I play it is 2 steps<br />
forward one back. But there will come a<br />
time, but not today.<br />
I have had two previous knee injuries both<br />
from skiing. A knee basically means 1.5 to<br />
2 years off from being back in form.<br />
How does New Zealand rank in the<br />
world? In the past not so great, I don’t<br />
mean to offend anyone that has speed<br />
skied from NZ before me (maybe don’t<br />
put that down) . When I started, due to my<br />
racing background in alpine and my skill<br />
with my hands I was able to build up some<br />
really nice gear as aerodynamics is so<br />
important. We can easily look at a speed<br />
skier and tell from what they are wearing<br />
if they are fast or not. I still have a lot of<br />
work to do to catch the very top guys but<br />
from my entry into the speed ski game I<br />
have produced some good results for NZ.<br />
Some notable results below<br />
• 2018, 4th and 2 x 5th place in Canada<br />
World Cup<br />
• 2021, 4th and 2 x 5th place in Sweden<br />
World Cup<br />
• 2022, 4th place at Sweden World Cup<br />
• 2023, 6th at the World<br />
Championships, and 4th in the World<br />
Cup, both at vars<br />
• 2023, broke the NZ record 4 times in<br />
a row, something that will never ever<br />
happen again in the future of speed<br />
skiing.<br />
NZ is now ranked 6th fastest country in the<br />
world ever. In order...France, Italy, Austria,<br />
Switzerland, Finland then NZ.<br />
I am the 11th fastest person in the history<br />
of speed skiing ever and the fastest<br />
person outside of Europe just beating the<br />
Unites states and Sweden to name a few.<br />
Previous to this season I was the 158th<br />
fastest at a speed of 219.646kph<br />
Is the world racing circuit a close-knit<br />
group or are there major rivalries?<br />
Mostly tight knit, we all know the risks so<br />
we are always happy for each when we<br />
have good clean runs and stoked when<br />
someone pulls off a near crash. There<br />
is usually a crash at each event but not<br />
always, it can happen anytime so I think it<br />
keeps us humble and respectful. There is<br />
a bit of rivalry between some of the French<br />
team for various reasons, its a good thing<br />
my French kind of sucks as it keeps me<br />
out of it as I spend a lot time training with<br />
the rouge French skier Simon Billy, the<br />
current record holder. There's the usual<br />
Italian rivalry, not the most out going types<br />
along with the Austrians, you have to earn<br />
there respect.<br />
Will speed skiing ever be an Olympic<br />
event?Yes I believe it will be its just a<br />
matter of when. At the moment there<br />
is a chance you may see it in the 2026<br />
Olympics, watch this space.<br />
Someone who knows you well – how<br />
would they describe you? Driven, I don’t<br />
tend to ask to much more haha. Maybe a<br />
bit stubborn, love sleeping.<br />
If you knew then what you know now<br />
what would you tell your younger self?<br />
To start speed skiing in my 20's and<br />
believe in yourself more than ever and<br />
make the most of your time with a type of<br />
urgency, make it happen, dream bigger.<br />
Aim for the stars and you may just land on<br />
the moon.<br />
Best place in the world to speed ski.<br />
Why? Vars, It’s the only current Speed<br />
ski track that is over 200kph, it’s the track<br />
I call home. Simon’s dad (Phillipe Billy)<br />
made this track, and has kept it going for<br />
many years. He made a world record here<br />
in 1993, and now the World record is back<br />
home, like father like son.<br />
What does the future hold? I will<br />
continue speed skiing for at least another<br />
3-5 years, chasing the now current world<br />
record of 255.500 kph. In the process I will<br />
break the NZ record a few more times. As<br />
for the World Cup circuit goes, I will get<br />
onto that podium and perhaps fly the NZ<br />
flag at the opening ceremony of the 2026<br />
Olympics. Also making it into space one<br />
day, low earth orbit will be fine, but the<br />
moon will be better.<br />
A question we get a lot about extreme<br />
sports...As the sport evolves and the<br />
speed gets faster and faster and the<br />
risks become greater will there comes a<br />
point where riders say that enough, the<br />
risks are too high or will it naturally find<br />
its own level? What we have with speed<br />
skiing is we need higher and longer tracks<br />
to go faster. At this stage there really is no<br />
limit to speed skiing, we will risk everything<br />
to go faster.<br />
As with all sports I am sure sponsors<br />
play a major part are there any you<br />
would like to thank. I have no sponsors,<br />
but I would like to give many thanks to the<br />
Billy's for if it was not for this family, I would<br />
not be skiing at 248kph.<br />
“NZ is now ranked 6th fastest country in the world ever. I am the<br />
11th fastest person in the history of speed skiing ever and the<br />
fastest person outside of Europe just beating the Unites States<br />
and Sweden to name a few. Previous to this season I was the 158th<br />
fastest at a speed of 219.646kph"<br />
ADVENTUREMAGAZINE.CO.NZ//63
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