How fast do you think you ski on piste?

A snowHead

I know just by what it feels like that I ski faster on blue pistes than I do on reds!

A snowHead

I don't know and I don't care. And I don't understand why anyone else would Puzzled

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Have taken my bike GPS out with me here in L2A several times this week and uploaded it to Garmin Connect. Top speed each day has been over 40 mph with best of 45 mph. I haven't really analysed it too much but I think where we are hitting that is coming down from a blue run where you need to straight line the bottom and schuss to get up a slight incline for the lift. Did a run with easiski at the top of the glacier this afternoon where you really had to motor to avoid a bit of an uphill hike (at 3500m, no fun) and that felt faster but I didn't have the GPS with me today. This is yesterdays track http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79513174 It was actually in my daughter's pocket most of yesterday and we're currently having a family dispute over whether the 45 mph is her's or mine Smile

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I have a Navman which is a GPS specifically for skiing - no longer made. I have worn it for the last 5 or 6 seasons most days so know lots of boring data - call it the boastmeter! My all time max speed is 98 kph in Courmayeur on a school ski trip - no the school kids were not with me at the time. Just managed to get a clear piste early morning when it was nicely pisted and not chewed up. The main problem is finding a clear steepish area with good snow and virtually no other people. I find the fastest speeds tend to be when making big carved turns rather than going straight down. But I'm only a 9st woman on 163 all mountain skis. Possibly with longer skis and a prepared run I could top 100? My normal max speed is about 70 - 80 kph and at that speed its only young lads, instructors and racers that tend to go past.
The most amazing thing is that no matter how long I'm out on the hill I've never topped 3 hours of actual skiing as it records how long/far/vertical etc. Most of the time you are on uplift.

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I bought Ski Tracks for my iphone for the trip I've just done. It had always intrigued me as to how fast I might go. The app btw is superb. It would seem the max I hit was 42mph when I wasn't actually trying. At the start of the week I was actively trying to find slopes that I could safely go for it. It also looks like I routinely will hit around 35mph during some point of the day. But generally the average is fairly low - especially when having to wait for the wife lol. The main issue was feeling safe enough and stopping at the higher speeds especially in soft snow is a bit iffy. So slopes with a natural rise to slow you without any turns really helps make it a safer experience.

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An acquaintance of mine reckons the clock 141+ kmh in Whistler using one of these pocket gizmos. I doubt very much if she was anywhere near that as a) she skis on twin tips and b)while fearless, is not that good a skier! Laughing

but she believes it! rolling eyes

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No way. My sons used to speedski many years ago. They clocked 125 kph on a prepared track in Scotland on downhill skis - not full KL gear. On TV when they say speeds that alpine racers are doing they are at 100 or 110. I think the 141 was perhaps a reflection from something. My Navman once said I had done 186 but I knew it was a reflec tion off something!

After all it is free

mogulski, that's what I said - I don't believe it either. She would have shat herself if she were over 100kmh, epsecially as she is still in rehab from a knee injury! No way Jose! Laughing

How does the reflection thing work anyway?

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Samerberg Sue, or it could have been the speed the GPS thought it moved while locking on to the satellites. I have had speeds up to about 50mph while out hiking as a result of this. It might be interesting to see where and when that speed was recorded, before you decide to believe.

Basically, the reflection issue is the GPS receiving a signal reflected off something nearby and confusing it into thinking it is somewhere else (eg a reflection off a building could make the unit think you are the other side of the building - a bit simplistic, but that's the idea) - the GPS then calculates how fast you travelled from the last, correct, position to the new, incorrect one.

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Samerberg Sue, Yellow Pyranha,

It may not be a "reflection" but simply the sat(s) lose contact with the device and thus miss some of the travel; I;ve had spikes of 141mph while out sailing in the middle of a 1.5x3 mile lake; the device simply lost contact with the sat(s) and thus gets confused and so you "move" in the devices logic faster than the real world; when we are doing "times runs" on boats; the accepted metric is 100m of travel (or 10 seconds) to get a sensible plot; given the speed of sking it might be better to go for 200m....

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scooby_simon, if the GPS looses some points on a straight track, the next valid point will be further away, but also longer time away, so speed = distance/time=constant.

The problem is when for whatever reason (including reflections) the GPS records a point that is off to one side of the track, which is than added in to the distance. I particularly notice these when entering a building like when getting on/off lifts...

Actually, you can get the same effect f the GPS records a point that is along the track, but displaced close to the preceding or following point.

Car nav type GPS systems also seem to continue plotting 'fake' points on the latest vector when they loose the signal...like going in tunnels. When you emerge you may be a long way from the estimated point, causing a high speed vector jump back on track.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I clocked 36.3mph in sauze d'oulx this season measured using my I-phone 4 ski traks app. Great app and massively recommend it to everyone. One of my mates was regularly up in the 55mph zone. I thought 36.3 seemed a lot quicker than in reality.

A snowHead

55mph?

do you race?

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

jirac18, it's quite fast, that's all. I'm a little surprised. An acquaintance of mine was in the GB downhill squad and his record (some years ago) was ~70mph, on a prepared DH course.

55mph on a public piste sounds unlikely and somewhat fool hardy.

Mind you, I've never been speed gated so have no idea how fast I ever go.

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jirac18, not being negative, read it as "sounded unlikely but cool", taken completely at face value. Note comment at end, I have no idea how fast is fast. Maybe 55mph is entirely normal.

I can never understand oversensitivity like yours. Twisted Evil

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Well let's say my perceived sensitivity balances out your perceived negativity and shake on it.

I wouldn't say 55mph is normal for most skiers. I reckon most intermediates would scooch around blues and reds in the 20 - 35mph zone at a guess. 55mph would be way to much for me for sure!

After all it is free

under a new name, I have GPSd myself doing 54mph once in L2A, on piste.
Foolhardy; probably. Took care, as usual, to be well away from other slope users.

I am now a real speed freak; mostly I am trying to ski as slowly and controlled as I can, but keeping it all fluid a bit like slow motion.

The faster you ski, the more time you waste on lifts.

jirac18, shaken! snowHead

I'd easily agree on 20-35 as "normal". I'm slower than most as I prefer to ski in bumps, which (at least for me) require a certain speed sensitivity.

lampbus, I'm completely prepared to believe that too. I'm not (unusually) trying to be deliberately awkward. I must confess that jirac18's comments have made me very thoughtful - 1. what are the speed ranges that we encounter (I have no idea) and 2. how does the GPS work it out.

"Curiouser and curiouser," said UUANM

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under a new name, 2: Im not entirely sure - but I didnt just look at the 'max recorded speed' indication - I looked at the actual recorded points and applied some brain filtering 'n stuff. (You know me and tech stuff - I researched the whole GPS thing for a project once)

So I realy am not bothered how fast I was, just how 'interesting' GPS errors are...

Have you flattened all those bumps yet?

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well over 7 days skiing in Feb at Sauze my top speeds each day ranged from 25 - 36 mph for me.

We left the gps ski traks app on all day each day which then also records travelling on lifts simply because its a pain to switch it on and off every time you get on a lift. The trouble with that is that the average speed includes time on lifts which are pretty slow and also time stood around or just moving slightly. If there is anyone out there who is disciplined enough to just activate gps just on the downhill runs this would give a reasonably accurate average speed.

My speeds as above are fairly typical I would say of most skiers as I would say I am middle of the road for speed when looking at everyone else either passing me or whom I pass.

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I suspect my top speeds in LDA last month 40 - 45 mph (see earlier posts) were when schussing to avoid flats, etc.

folks, I find this increasingly interesting - both from a what speeds does one seeon the slopes [i]and[i/] how does the GPS work it out p.o.v.

jirac18, (sauze) I think that's quick, but not very unusually so.

More data anyone?

You know it makes sense.

under a new name, take a look at this
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79513174

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Downhill racers average about 65 mph (about 104 kph) and sometimes get up to a maximum of 80 mph (128 kph). I'm a bit doubtful about some of the speeds reported on here.

I've never measured my speed, but nearly 20 years ago I once did the OK run at Val d'Isere (down to La Daille) the day after a Europa Cup race, when the nets were still up, and on my second attempt I did it in 3 min 15 sec which gave me an average of about 40mph. I took almost all of it straight but not in a tuck, but the bottom section of the OK where the blue run joins it had not been used in the race so was not properly flattened and there were a few other people around so I slowed and put in long turns and this must have brought my average down. Also there is one point in the middle which would have been a blind jump at speed so I slowed right down for that in case there was someone skiing below (and OK, I was scared of a jump at speed). Of course I may not have been carving properly in those days.

I was skiing on GS racing skis then, and I don't think I've skied faster than the steeper bits on that descent - I was certainly going way faster than anyone else. I ski mostly off piste now and on Missions which have a short radius so I wouldn't feel stable at those speeds - not to mention I'm older and have probably slowed down a bit.

A snowHead

I really wonder how could the GPS in my iphone, which in cities often has trouble in placing me on the right street for dozens of seconds at a time, provide an accurate estimate of my speed when skiing.

(the car GPS is equally slow at times, but I haven't tried ripping it out the dashboard and skiing with it as a comparison).

On the other hand, I think that on TGR someone with a calibrated speed gun used it at some "maggot" gatherings and got readings which were broadly in line with GPS speeds, or anyway some seriously high speeds, so perhaps we can all ski like lunatics.

A snowHead

In a straight speed test on a smooth, clear slope, yes OK. I used to like doing that on the narrower slope at the bottom on the right of the OK as you look up from La Daille. One year I liked to wait till it was empty and then take it all straight in a tuck. After I'd done it a few times and a couple of people copied me, they used a piste basher to put a bump at the bottom to prevent it. I have no idea how fast I went, though.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Just a question on the accuracy of resort "speed track" speed guns, in Schladming son 11yrs 6st went down at 69.9kph, me 12.5st 42yrs went down 77kph - this felt pretty damn fast to me and I wouldn't do it on a resort red or blue for fear of crashing into someone, was glad of the enclosed speed area as it felt on the edge of control for me, but are these guns accurate or close on ?

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The fastest I think I've gone on piste was when I fell on sheet ice and unintentionally used my back protector as a bum board. With skis actually on the snow the fastest I think was near the bottom of the Lauberhorn where they have a speed camera and run to the right of the slope. We stood at the entrance bucking up our courage until a three yeasr old pushed past and flew down. I couldn't be outdone by a toddler so I assumed the crouch and went for it. Unfortunately the speed gun was not working so didn't record my phenominal speed. Perhaps I broke it. Or maybe it doesn't go over 160.

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Moriarty,

you just made me spill my coffee!!

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Which GPS is the best and most accurate for skiing?

Does anyone have any suggestions, i have a couple of apps on the ip4 but i'm not convinced they are accurate?

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I judge my ski speeds subjectively from reference to what it feels like on a pushbike with an accurately calibrated speedometer. On the pushbike, riding along on the flat at 20 mph doesn't feel very fast at all. But riding downhill at 40 mph does feel pretty quick, particularly when off-road. Now I'm sure I generally ski faster than I ride a pushbike, hence I don't think 50-55 mph is that unrealistic when skiing flat-out on a wide open blue run and I'm sure my cruising speed is around 30 mph.

As for the difference between 50 and 70 mph, I'd say in reality that's a massive difference. For a start wind resistance increases in proportion to the square of speed, which means that it is almost doubled between 50 and 70 mph. Anyone claiming to be skiing at 70+ mph is either a competent DH racer or a bit over optimistic.

After all it is free

uktrailmonster, Yup... when I straight lined that steep black I reckon my speed was approx 50mph given that my skis were chattering and I was going too fast to even turn. I've done 50 on a bike downhill and know what it feels like and how fast the trees pass by. I was actually fairly scared by that level of speed on skis.

uktrailmonster, sounds like a sound analysis to me...

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101.8 kph on the speed trap in Davos was scary because the wind was getting under the tips of my Elans, even with all my weight forward and in a tuck. The front 20 cm was lifting and shivering, as was I Embarassed

It brought it home to me the reason why DH and FIS GS skis have such a low turn up at the front. My Elans are only 118mm in the shovel, tried my Scott Missons a week or so later but only made it to 97.2 kph and didn't notice any lift even though they are considerably wider.

Help!!

How fast do you think you ski on piste?

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