When Californian Jeff Hamilton set a speed skiing record of 150 mph in Vars, France, he went faster than a skydiver falling from a plane, and about 65mph faster than the highest speeds reached by downhill racers.

Here's some background on what happened...a light layer of fresh snow fell over the firm course the night before, and was groomed before competition with a winch-drawn snowcat. Jeff used 240cm Dynamic speed skis with graphite bases that he and his dad, Dick, had hand-tuned.

They had previously glide-tested 5 pair of speed skis with different structures at Boreal Ridge near Lake Tahoe before going to France. Surprisingly, in wet corn snow conditions there, they got the fastest results on skis with a fine linear structure..versus a coarse structure that conventional wisdom would dictate. Also the skis weren't stoneground...instead they were hand-sanded using 150-grit silicon carbide paper. Jeff's dad structured the bases by sanding from tail-to-tip (versus tip-to-tail), postulating that any loose p-tex hairs would lay flat pointed toward the tail of the ski for less friction. He followed this with a scotchbrite pad and brushing.

In France, they hot waxed with a fluoro-carbon glide wax, and then buffed it in vigorously by hand with a natural cork until it took on a glazed appearance. The excess wax was removed with a plastic scraper and then brushed. Lastly, a dry layer of Toko WetJet was applied using a horsehair brush, in hopes of getting fast acceleration right out of the start. It must have worked...Jeff went from 0 to 124mph in only 6 seconds!

At top speed, Jeff crouches low with his feet apart, riding the inside edges of both skis for maximum stability. To prep for this, he side files edges until they're a mere 1/32" wide to reduce drag, then rounds off the lip so the edge is dull but highly polished along the entire length of the ski. At high speeds, a sharp edge could otherwise dig in and hurl him off course.

Also interesting...Jeff and his dad glide-tested their speed skis the same way nordic skiers do...at low speeds. Although alpine technicians have long argued that low and high-speed glide testing involve different forces, friction, heat, etc....and therefore aren't the same...it seems, from Jeff's results anyway, that there may not be that much difference after all.

The first speed skiing contest, called the Kilometre Lance (Flying Kilometer) was held 65 years ago in St. Moritz, Switzerland...the winning speed was a whopping 66mph. Where will it end? Some speculate speeds will eventually peak between 160 and 175mph.