Elias Ambuhl is a Swiss freeskier who just broke the world record for reaching the fastest ever speed of someone skiing backward. Previously, the world record for ‘fastest backward skiing’ was set at 79.9 mph and that was set by Anders Backe of Norway back in 2012.
On Monday, Elias Ambuhl set a new world record when he reached a speed of 81.5 miles per hour while skiing backward down the mountain at Arosa Ski Resort in Switzerland, a feat that proves some people truly have death wishes and/or complete disregard for human safety.
Seriously, blink and you’ll miss him passing the radar gun:
It’s hard enough to bomb it down a mountain at 50 mph while facing forward, but this bro was batshit crazy enough to hit 81.5 mph while skiing backward. For comparison’s sake, the downhill skiing speed world record during competition is 100.6 mph, roughly 19mph faster, and that was set during World Cup downhill skiing competition back in 2013 (also in Switzerland), and the total speed record, the fastest anyone has ever gone on skis is 158.4 mph. That record was set last year.