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Swiss freeskier reaches 90km/h speed for thrilling 50-metre jump in “Hill Size”.
Swiss star Fabian Bösch is a two-time world champion and Winter X Games gold medallist, who is intent on taking the sport of freeskiing to new levels after completing an extraordinary double front flip off the Engelberg ski jump. Here is all you need to know:
- Bösch, 23, won Winter X Games gold in Aspen five years ago as well as capturing two World Championship titles in Big Air (2019) and Slopestyle (2015).
- For his latest project, the Hirschthal native made the trip to Engelberg’s Gross-Titlis-Schanze to attempt a complex feat after he successfully completed a single front flip off the Einsiedeln ski jump back in 2016.
- With the best ski jumpers in the world currently fighting it out for the iconic Four Hills Tournament title, Bösch wanted to double up in his own “Hill Size” stunt using his home hill in Switzerland.
- Using normal skis, Bösch reached an incredible 90km/h on his way to the take-off table down the steepest hill in the World Cup – a full 36-degree incline that usually brings ski jumpers up to speed.
- Not only that, he drove down the hill backwards in a switch then spun himself forward towards a kicker below – formed from 130 cubic metres of snow – to launch himself high into the air.
- He generated enough speed in the air to pull off the first front flip with ease, then extended himself down the mountain to complete the second front flip and land safely forward 50m down the mountain.
- He revealed: “In 2016 I tried something similar in Einsiedeln, but only a front flip on a smaller hill in summer. Now I wanted to take the idea to a new level on a 140-metre hill in the snow. At this enormous pace, everything has to fit together. A normal jump build-up is not possible under these conditions. You drive away and hope that you get the right time to jump.”
