World speed skiing at Turoa

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 5, 1 July 1986, Page 20

World speed skiing at Turoa

Thirty of the world's fastest skiers are expected to compete at a world series speed skiing event at Turoa in September. Teams from Britain, Sweden, Canada and America have already confirmed that they will be attending with teams from Austria, France, Germany and Australia also expected to register for the event. Turoa was picked as the ideal place to host the FISV world series speed skiing after Christchurch skier Henry Van Asch broke the New Zealand speed skiing record with a run of 161.39 km/ hr on the Mangaehuehu Glacier at Turoa last October.

The FISV world series event is scheduled from September 14 to 19 and will be preceded by the New Zealand cup championships from September 11 to 13, also at Turoa. It is expected that Franz Webber of Austria, currently holding the world speed skiing record with 208.9 km/hr will attend the event at Turoa. The event is being organised by the New Zealand Speed Skiers Association, along with the British Association of Speed Skiers and the Federation International De Ski De Vitesse. The following is the full programme for special events at Turoa:

McDonalds cup — August 23-24, Homestyle slalom — August 30, Rossignol giant slalom — August 31, New Zealand cup speed skiing championships — September 1 1-13, FISV world series speed skiing event — September 14-19, the Babbage all-rounder — October 4-5, Giant man (over the mountain race) — October 1 1 .