Speed Flying

This is a very special week.  I've been planning on posting about this sport called "speed flying" for nearly as long as this blog has existed, but this week I'm finally going to do it.  The reason: I have finally seen a video that does justice to the awesomeness of the sport.  Here it is.  Watch it.  Full screen mode recommended.


First Person Speedflying - Video from clipupload.com

(This video, like many videos, is courtesy of Ken's internet browsing skills.)

First, for those of you who don't ski, the first few seconds of the video (before they start flying) give a pretty good feeling of what skiing feels like.  And then they're threading their way between rock formations, briefly landing on top of houses, doing flips, and sometimes just coasting above the clouds.  I don't think I'd have the guts to come as close to the rocks as these guys, but the rest of it looks like so much fun.  I...sort of want to try it.

(from ludo29's flickr photostream)

Before I'd heard of speed flying, I once had a dream in which I skied off a cliff, parachuted down to the ground, and continued skiing.  I started thinking about awesome sport combinations, like skydiving + skiing + pistol target practice.  Each is fun by itself, so why not combine them?  Then I found out about speed flying, and I found out about the biathlon (shooting + skiing) while watching the Winter Olympics.  If we could just combine speed flying with the biathlon...well, then we'd probably be in a Bond movie, but my dream would be realized!

 (from lee_ciaran's flickr photostream)

On the other hand, speed-flying.com says that nine people died in this sport in 2009.  They probably had more testosterone coursing through their bodies than I do, and were probably trying pretty gutsy stuff...but maybe I'll hold off until the sport's a little more developed.  Maybe someday in the future, people will create the bunny hill of speed flying.