"Alex Heney" wrote in message
...
On 10 Jul 2003 12:00:33 -0700, (Eric
Fruttero)
wrote:

Hello,

Following the Tour prologue and Maier's declaration that he would
best
any cyclist with more than 1'19" in the Streiff, my friend
Absandre is
arguing in fr.rec.sport.cyclisme that it could be done.

My view is that it takes one crazy #$!@ to put his skis up there,
and
going down without a parachute...

But I may be very wrong... (:-

What is your opinion ? What kind of skier would it takes to be 1.5
mn
behind ??


That strikes me as a rather silly claim by Maier (if true).

The Streif run is roughly 2 minutes for the fastest skiers (Maier
won
in 2001 in a time of 1'56"), while the tour prologue is over 7
minutes
for the best. So he was what 16-17% down, whereas 1'19" would be
over
50% down on the leaders.

I think anyone who was a reasonably strong skier (above
intermediate
level, but not needing to be an absolute expert) could probably get
down it in under 3'30".

Doubtful. A trained racer might be able to do it in under 3'30", but
most people wouldn't have the skills and/or the will to take those
faces at anywhere near race speeds. On a flatter course, the odds
would even up. But der Streif is anything but flat and the pucker
factor is such that most folks, myself included, would probably
sideslip the steeper sections. The others would simply fly off
the course at the bottoms.

Either way that 1'19" is going to be a formidable goal.

-p