E81 SKIING

Bruce is going Downhill. Simon is giving him a Lift.

There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of downhill skiing. The cold, clear mountain air is invigorating, and although skiing has been around since the Stone Age, the downhill version has only been around for a century or so. Dive across the moguls of facts in this episode.

Cave paintings

The Invention of Downhill Skiing

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the introduction to Switzerland

Ski Lifts

1908 First Ski Lift

Union Pacific Ski Lift

Grass Skiing

Waterskiing

145 People Waterskiing

Wakeboarding

Eddie the Eagle

Longest Ski Jump 291m

Records

• Fastest speed downhill skiing backwards: Anders Backe (Norway) reached 82.92 mph (133.46 km/h). 

• Fastest speed skiing: Simon Billy (France) reached 158.760 mph (255.500 km/h). 

• Fastest 100-meter sprint running in ski boots: Nick Symmonds (USA) finished in 13.71 seconds 

Altitude/Vertical Feet Records:

• Highest altitude ski-BASE jump: Joshua Bregmen (UK) jumped off a 5,716-meter (18,753-foot) cliff in Nepal. 

• Most vertical feet skied in a year: Tom (USA) reached 7 million feet in half a year. 

Other Records:

• Most ski resorts skied in 24 hours: Kyle Kelly (USA) skied 23 resorts in 24 hours. 

• Longest rail grind ski: Jesper Tjäder (Sweden) achieved 506 ft 10.3 in (154.49 m). 

• Longest downhill race (Skiing): 25.6 km (15.91 miles) at the annual "Schlag das ASSinger" race. 

• Most people on a single pair of skis: 13M. 577.