Nobody has ever skied switch as fast as that! The way Elias Ambühl jumps and turns 180° around at full speed to ride the slope backwards looks so easy – until you remember that he’s travelling at an eye-watering 131.23kph! FORMEX was at the slope when their brand ambassador broke the new world record. Congratulations Elias!
24 year old Freeski-Pro Elias Ambühl broke the world record in switch skiing this Monday at a slope at Weisshorn in Arosa, Switzerland. 131,23 kp/h – backwards and downhill.
It was the fourth and last trial when Ambühl broke the record. He used all tricks possible: “when in the end, only a few kph were missing, we startet to have everything taped up just to have my outfit more aerodynamic”, Ambühl explained. “I am relieved that everything worked out perfect and I’m still in one piece. First, I had the impression, that I didn’t catch it right but at the finish, it was the fastest speed”.
Ambühl beats the previous marker of 128.7kph set by Norway’s Anders Backe in 2013. To give you a bit of context, the fastest speed recorded in World Cup skiing is the 161.9kph registered by Johan Clarey of France during the downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, in 2013.