Sunapee 2012-01-22 ... the good, the okay, and the dick move

[hammer]

Add one to the no freakin' way group. I think you could reach 70+ mph straight lining lynx. No way blast off is steep enough or straight enough. Maybe 55mph tops.

In addition, Blastoff has some rolls so you would get some decent air.

How about Wingding? It isn't a black but it's wide open with a fair amount of pitch.

 

[KevinF]

Blast-off has way too much run-out and way too little pitch to get anywhere close to 70mph.

I was thinking you could do it on Lynx or Wingding -- wide, straight and a relatively consistent pitch.

Speaking from my cycling experience... 35mph on a downhill is easy to achieve, 40mph isn't too hard, 45mph requires something special and 50+ really requires everything to be right (or to lack a self-preservation gene). (Coming down US302 through Crawford Notch -- 13% grade for 0.5 miles -- got me up to 48mph... Probably could have broken 50 if I really wanted to, but I didn't).

The point being that air resistance becomes extremely significant as the speedometer creeps upwards. A very effective brake on a road bike is to simply sit up and let the air resistance slow you down.

Ski slopes are obviously much steeper than roads are, the surface is slicker and tighter tucks are possible since you're already lower to the ground than you are on a bike, so the speed threshold at which it gets hard to go faster is going to be higher.

I have no doubts you could get up to 50-something on BlastOff, but as I said above, the air-resistance is going to kick in at some point and there simply isn't enough pitch on that trail to overcome it to the degree necessary to get up to 70mph.

 

[bdfreetuna]

It was my first time on the mountain.. I *think* it was Blastoff. If theres another trail that is straighter and steeper it could have been that one. I wasn't paying attention to the trail signs.

And yeah I did get some decent air on the rolls of whatever trail it was.. it was impossible not to lift off at that speed !

I have never tested my Rossis at quite that high of a speed before and also getting air all I can say is I am more in love with these skis now than ever... on my old skis I would have died doing this

Also my clocked downhill mountain bike speed was on a Specialized Enduro with Hayes hydraulic brakes (my steed)... I don't have a road bike

This was done on Petticoat Hill road in Williamsburg Mass and yes I could have easily died luckily there were no cars on the road that day (there are usually very few cars on the road and I had a car in front of me with my buddy in it going down the hill and he confirmed my speed... after which point I slowed down fast)

I would much rather bomb down a road on my air suspended Enduro with good tires than a flimsy road bike!

 

[bdfreetuna]

Add one to the no freakin' way group. I think you could reach 70+ mph straight lining lynx. No way blast off is steep enough or straight enough. Maybe 55mph tops.

Now that I'm looking at the map we def straightlined Lynx as well. If you're telling me thats the straightest and steepest one than that's probably the one we maxed out on. I didn't know any of the names of the trails I was skiing cuz it was my first time there and I'm just trying to figure it out now looking at the map.

I assumed it was Blastoff at first because that looks like the longest and straightest and I know we definitely ripped down that but could have been closer to 60 and if Im getting the trails confused probably it was Lynx that we were pushing the 70s

Like I said I was basically tailing the fastest snowboarder I have ever seen and he rides that mountain like multiple times a week so I had no doubts about just following his line and trusting that it was possible to go that fast

If I was skiing there myself I would not have gone so fast.. but still pretty fast

 

[awf170]

Also my clocked downhill mountain bike speed was on a Specialized Enduro with Hayes hydraulic brakes (my steed)... I don't have a road bike :wink:

This was done on Petticoat Hill road in Williamsburg Mass and yes I could have easily died luckily there were no cars on the road that day (there are usually very few cars on the road and I had a car in front of me with my buddy in it going down the hill and he confirmed my speed... after which point I slowed down fast)

I would much rather bomb down a road on my air suspended Enduro with good tires than a flimsy road bike!

I have also gone 62mph confirmed downhill on a bicycle and I was definitely going much faster than that skiing the other day.

Nope, didn't happen. :argue:

 

[from_the_NEK]

Nope, didn't happen. :argue:

Only possible if he was drafting the car that was clocking his speed. That would have cut the wind resistance. Although, there is the issue of knobby MTB tires

 

[bdfreetuna]

Yeah I was drafting the car.. but not so super close in case he had to brake for whatever reason.. but still fairly close to get a draft... Petticoat Hill is a serious downhill run on a bike!... tires are semi-knobby I don't even know the model...

Petticoat Hill Rd , Williamsburg Mass. Confirmed. :lol:

 

[BenedictGomez]

There's only one way to resolve this.

Yup, I'm talking Ski Off.

With 130mm power boards on boilerplate ice!

 

[LonghornSkier]

I would think you could get going very fast on Goosebumps as well... The pitch is shorter but slightly steeper.

 

[hammer]

I would think you could get going very fast on Goosebumps as well... The pitch is shorter but slightly steeper.

Agree but the steep section isn't all that long...