World Cup Downhillers Are The Biggest Badasses in Skiing

World Cup downhill racers are, without question, the most badass men and women on skis. Badass-er than Chugach straightliners; badass-er than I-skinned-for-three-months-and-slept-in-my-puffy-the-whole-time-to-reach-this-peak alpinists; badass-er than those kids who throw spins and flips off giant booters. The guys and gals who charge 80-plus mph down free-falling, off-camber pitches on glare ice don’t just suppress the urge to go into the world’s fastest pizza wedge, they actively step on the accelerator, making them a cut above the rest on the overall slab of badass meat.

This isn’t the easiest position for