-Lets talk about huge cliff drops-

[Blurred]

First of all I want to discuss the world record. I've read that both John Tremann and Chuck Patterson held the record of biggest cliff huck, which was 140 feet back in the day.I've also heard that Tremanns huck was actually 165. Paul Ahern claims he hucked 225 feet in New Zealand.


First of all, who the fuck is measuring this shit, and why isn't it being documented on film? The only huge hucks of these I've seen on film is Jamie Pierre doing 160+.

Not:

Aherns drop

Pattersons drop

Tremanns drop

Paul Ruffs footage of him dying is the only footage we shouldn't see.


Also, why is Aherns drop a world record? He like ruptured his spleen and had all sorts of injuries on impact. Does wrecking on impact warrant a world record, even if any person who has NEVER skied could do it? (if they were crazy enough)


Another question I have is about terminal velocity.

Some say it is around 65 feet, but doesn't that change with skis on? Shit I've done 30 footers and felt my skis float around from the wind resistance.

Discuss

[glademaster]

If I remember coorectly, you would have to drop around 1000 feet to reach terminal velocity. Even a 200 foot cliff only has you going between 70 and 80 miles per hour on impact. Now obviously thats a lot of force going from 75 to 0 in like 3 feet.

You can feel wind resistence moving your skis on 30 footers because of the surface area and the fact that the air does not flow smoothly around the ski. Jamie Pierre said that after 65 or 70 feet its all the same with regards to velocity. Obviously he slept through physics class. Terminal velocity of a person falling spread eagle is about 125mph, so I assume even being upright fat skis would add about the same amount of resistance. Jamie and other big huckers have a logn way to go before they crater at terminal velocity.

I too would like to see some of those huge drops on video, although big hucks don't get my blood pumping as much as an insanely deep powder line or a long, deep pillow line. Nevertheless, it would be pretty damn amazing to see someone drop 225 feet, the amount of hangtime alone must have been maddening, I for one would have started having serious regrets after about 75 or 80 feet. I guess thats why I don't hurl my skinny ass off giant cliffs, that and I live on the East Coast.

-Ben

[Baconzoo]

Originally posted by BlurredElevens
Paul Ahern claims he hucked 225 feet in New Zealand.

Paul had a backpack full of pillows, no shit! His backpack strap ruptured his spleen.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Paul Ahern's drop is on film.

It's in the underground flick "The Swarm" shot by none other than fellow Kirkwood Maggot skier666. I have a copy right here. It's pretty cool.

edit: I should clarify that. Although Ahern's drop is in the "The Swarm" and the Swarm was filmed, produced etc by skier666.....skier666 himself didn't film Ahern's drop. His buddies in NZ filmed it and sent it to him here in the States to include the film. Maybe the 666 is lurking over the summer and shed some insight.


and paging Alkasquawlik on Patterson's drop....you've been up on that huck no?

[The AD]

I wonder how far ski jumpers actually drop on the biggest jumps? Their hang time sure seems long. It doesn't look as impressive since the hill doesn't drop straight off, but that doesn't matter. They're still falling at the same rate as a skier going off a cliff.

[Zeedashbo]

the whole terminal velocity thing kills me. isn't it about the resistance of your body/skis/clothing (whatever) to the resistance that comes from falling. if so i kinda think that at around a 100 foot drop you can't go much faster. and what about when you are str8lining a steep line, from my personal experience (and this is only a couple of times mind you) i've gone so fast that the only thing keeping me from going faster was a skin tight body suit and a full tuck (picture jacket whipping really loudly). where are all the smart fuzzy guys to give me the low down

[The AD]

Terminal velocity occurs when the drag force caused by your body, clothes and skis passing through the air exactly cancels out the force of gravity pulling you down. You no longer accelerate and just continue to fall at that same speed the rest of the way.

[Blurred]

Ty- I'd do about anything to see that footie of Ahern hucking....is it accessible on the net anywhere?

Zeedash and Glade both make good points, could we get to the bottom of this "terminal velocity" thang once and for all?

[jayfrizzo]

Terminal velocity of a skydiver is about 120 mph.

I'm guessing terminal velocity of a hucking skier is more because the resistance of skis and a tucked skier doesn't seem like it'd match that of a person splayed out.

If you're going to discount hucks because someone got injured, then you should discount backslaps and all that other crap and only count what's landed. No one counts a quad axle if the skater lands on her ass.

Yeesh.

[The AD]

I'm going to assume terminal velocity of a skier is about 100 mph. That's roughly 45 m/s. Terminal velocity will be reached at 45 m/s divided by the accel of gravity which is 9.8 m/s^2 or 4.59 seconds. Using the equation 1/2at^2, the distance dropped at terminal velocity is about 103 meters or 300+ feet.

I think terminal velocity of a skier would be a little less than a skydiver. Your clothes are bulkier, you've got skis on, and the tuck is only going to improve the horizontal component of your air resistance, not the vertical.

[Zeedashbo]

4.59 seconds of hangtime is really EXTREME.

[phUnk]

Reference Pierre's 160 (?) foot drop that slippy posted here. Insta-flail. Retarded, and not in a "almost landed a rodeo 720 off 80 footer" way either.

Landing in pow at 100 mph == huckneck in the morning.

[Zeedashbo]

do i detect a hint of jealousy here phunk?

[Blurred]

Hey phUnk, you wanna throw that link up for us? That'd be cool, I can't find it.

[13]

I thought the terminal velocity for a human skydiver was 180 mph. if you go headfirst.

Didn't some French dude break the sound barrier skydiving from the edge of space?

All these questions about terminal velocity lead me to wonder how fast raindrops are falling if they're coming from 1,000 ft. up or more. It SHOULD hurt like a bitch when it rains, but doesn't. Hail is a nother matter.

Hmmmm.

[drugged_monkey]

'rone and crew showed me the flick with Ahern's huck in it when I was out in Tahoe and to be honest Pierre's 160 looked bigger to me. Maybe it was the angle things were filmed from but that's just one man's opinion.

I also think that if you find a steep (and deep) LZ you can stretch out your deceleration greatly. On maybe the biggest drop of the year for me I left a 3 foot deep 15 foot long trench. I didn't feel a thing on landing.

[Toque]

Originally posted by 13
how fast raindrops are falling if they're coming from 1,000 ft. up or more. It SHOULD hurt like a bitch when it rains, but doesn't.

Rain falls in an upside down plate shape. So that might account for the speed as this would slow it down. When it gets going fast enough though it then splits in half and forms another upside down plate.

[dipstik]

Originally posted by 13
I thought the terminal velocity for a human skydiver was 180 mph. if you go headfirst.

Didn't some French dude break the sound barrier skydiving from the edge of space?

All these questions about terminal velocity lead me to wonder how fast raindrops are falling if they're coming from 1,000 ft. up or more. It SHOULD hurt like a bitch when it rains, but doesn't. Hail is a nother matter.

Hmmmm.

according to this site: http://www.speedskydiving.net/info/top_10.php the world record for speed skydiving (putting on a sealskin suit and going head first from high altitude) is about 300MPH.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by The AD
I wonder how far ski jumpers actually drop on the biggest jumps? Their hang time sure seems long. It doesn't look as impressive since the hill doesn't drop straight off, but that doesn't matter. They're still falling at the same rate as a skier going off a cliff.

I'm assuming your talking about gelande style, right?

The distance is over 100 meters or 328 ft, but wer'e not talking apples to apples here.

The jump is designed so the skier can make himself into a foil and glide the distance of the outrun, where dropping your just that, dropping. Guys are pulling off the ramp at 60mph or so vs. ??? for the average take-off for a cliff, and on drops, your not going to get the benefit of flattening out and letting the wind support you like jumping. The transition is smooth and guys glide in versus making a bombhole, the potential to wreck yourself is there, but it's like a jet doing a scheduled landing and somebody ripping the wings off in midflight.

I would wonder how far the drop is for a 90 meter hill, no guess as to how far it actually is. I've done 30's and 50's but pussed on the big ones.
Someone a little fonder of math than I maybe can figure it out I suppose with the heigth of the hill, landing point and distance, right?

I would like to see the drop with Ahern's drop in it, impressive just in the doing of the thing, ski away or not.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Originally posted by slippy
No shit? Small world. I have a lot of freinds that know him then...

yeah very small world, no? the one, the only Krako K....who produced other such legendary underground flicks as: "Stiches, Riches, and DH Boards", "Volatile Descent", and "New World Disorder".

md9 -- I agree...the way Ahern's huck is filmed head on definitely doesn't make it look as big as Pierre's. Apparently, they went back up there with a rope and measure it off. I don't really know the whole story tho.

blurred -- I sure as hell have never it on the net, but that doesn't mean its not around somewhere. odds are gonna be slim tho.

[FLEX]

I read that Aherns jump was measured with a climbing rope ,take-off to impact. Terminal velocity for a human ,non aero position,between 130 -140mph.Freefall speed record headfirst in speed suit approx. 350 mph.
World record alpine ski jump , 231.5m or 759.5ft.

[Hicks]

Can't huck a shit but calculate it!

Final speed hucking 160 ft. is about 68 mph. Still gnarly!

Flex, I don't buy your 200+ meters, is it ft. instead?

[The AD]

Originally posted by Hicks
Flex, I don't buy your 200+ meters, is it ft. instead?

In ski jumping they measure the horizontal distance traveled, not vertical.

[Crinkle]

first I want to clear up the free fall record holder. This guy was on OLN Courage Countdown, hence where i found this info:



i second the notion to see footy of the 225 ft drop

Col. Joseph Kittinger: In 1960 Col Kittinger rode a high altitude balloon up to 102,800 ft and, in a pressurized suit, jumped out, free fell, then parachuted to safety. He was part of a program that was testing the feasibility of astronauts bailing out of crafts at high altitude. Before his jump they had no idea what this would do to the human body. He was the first HALO jumper. Let me put this in perspective. Passenger jets fly at about 40,000 ft. A U-2 flies at 70,000. At 102,000 feet you can see the curve of the earth. His fall took nearly 14 minutes (16 miles in 4 minutes 36 seconds) and he broke the speed of sound, topping out at 714 mph.

faaaaack

[iceman]

Whoa.

He must have accelerated to peak velocity while still way high up in super-thin air, then gradually decelerated as the atmosphere got thicker.