High-speed skiing: with a speed of 255.5 km/h, the Frenchman Simon Billy broke the world record.

You have to have a strong heart to dare to run, at 2715 meters above sea level, at the top of the Chabrier track in Vars (Hautes-Alpes), on a slope that in some places reaches 98%. At Speed’s Masters 2023 on Wednesday 22nd March, Simon Beale entered without fear and hit an impressive speed of 255.5km/h, setting a new world speed skiing record.

The 31-year-old Frenchman will thus knock down the mark set by the Italian Ivan Origone in 2016, which was blown at a speed of 254.958 km/h. Previous holders of this world record include Philip Beale, Simon’s father, who clocked 243.902 km/h in 1997.

255.5 km/h ???????? Simon Billie broke the speed skiing world record and retained the title of world champion in Varsi… https://t.co/CeLviwCVdo

— Varsphobe (@Vars The White Forest)

“I made the run of my life, at first I was calm and confident, Simon Bealey said after the descent. This record is a collective victory at home today. Baby, I’ve been to every post here (…). This is a childhood dream. »

Le Varsin has been training since childhood on the Chabrier track, the world’s only approved speed record. Skiers can reach 200 km/h in less than 6 seconds. With an average speed over 100m estimated at 255km/h, Simon Bealey claimed his second world speed skiing title. He beat the Italian Simone Origone (254.050 km/h), Ivan’s big brother and Austrian Manuel Kramer (252.840 km/h).

In the women’s competition, Sweden’s Brita Backlund imposed on himself 244,930 km/h ahead of the Italian Valentina Greggio (241,880 km/h). The latter holds the women’s world record since 2016, 247,083 km/h. French woman Clea Martinez (234.780 km/h) completes the podium.

The discipline, demonstrated at the Olympic Games in Albertville (France) in 1992, has not appeared in the program of the Olympic Games since then, due to the lack of approval by the International Olympic Committee.