French Skier Breaks World Record at 158 MPH on Skis

Simon Billy squeezes into a bright red suit, clips into his skis, and points himself down one of the steepest slopes in the French Alps with a single goal: go faster than any human ever has without an engine.

Last year, the French speed skier reached 158.76 mph on the slopes in Vars, France, setting a new world record. No person has ever traveled faster on land without mechanical assistance.

The achievement was decades in the making. Billy grew up in the French Alps watching his father Philippe compete as a world-class speed skier. In 2023, Simon finally eclipsed his dad's 1997 record of 151 mph.

Speed skiing looks terrifying from the outside. Competitors reach speeds faster than most cars drive on highways, essentially freefalling down mountains at over 120 mph. Billy sounds like a train hurtling down a track when he races.

But inside his aerodynamic helmet, Billy experiences something completely different. "When I am in my helmet, on my skis, at that moment, everything is just so slow around me," he told CNN Sports. "I hear nothing."

The sport demands extreme physical preparation. Billy spends countless hours in the gym building strength to withstand the pressure on his body at those speeds. But the mental training matters even more.

In 2017, Billy's leg slipped slightly during a run. At those speeds, any tiny mistake becomes catastrophic. He lost control and crashed violently, breaking multiple bones throughout his body.

He spent eight months in rehab learning to function on skis again. "I was so scared after this crash, I wanted to stop speed skiing because I didn't see the point of putting myself in danger like this just to catch my dream," he admitted.

Why This Inspires

Billy's story shows what becomes possible when we face our deepest fears and choose to keep going anyway. After his 2017 crash, many would have walked away from the sport forever. Instead, Billy spent years rebuilding not just his body, but his confidence.

His return to the slopes wasn't about recklessness. It was about respecting the mountain, trusting his training, and believing his dream was worth pursuing even after experiencing the worst-case scenario.

Today, Billy holds a record that seemed impossible after his accident. Speed skiing remains a niche sport and likely won't appear at next month's Winter Olympics in Italy, though there's hope for inclusion in the 2030 Games in France.

For Billy, Olympic gold would be nice, but it's secondary. "I'd prefer to have a world record than a gold medal at the Olympics," he says.

The fastest skier in the world has already achieved what matters most to him.