The first World Cup race is a fact! What an adventure... Like the last couple of years the start of the speedski season happened in Vars, France. 

Preparation and training for this event started very promising; 5 days prior to the race Merijn arrived in Vars to get comfortable at a height of 2000 meters. And together with some other speedskiers, Merijn did 2 days of testing the track and gear. 

Qualifying
Thursday 28th of January the race started officially. His first mandatory trainingrun resulted in a 5th spot!! (nice, 170 km/h). Qualifying started and after the first official racerun he was 10th; not bad and feeling better every run. Avarage measured speeds arround 180 km/h.

Go Fast or Go Home
After qualifying the schedule of the final two days had to be determined. Due to incoming weather (wind and snow) a serious delay was to be expected. The race organisation decided to take huge steps to progress to the top of the track of Vars. Big steps in speed also meant big cuts in competitors!! Qualifying for the final could be very difficult this time. Only 5 man and 3 women were suposed to ski the final run. Go Fast or Go Home in other words... Under ideal circumstances a top start could mean a new world record!! Excitement all around. 

Minus 32 degrees
With the decision to Go as Fast as possible the weather came in... Chances to approach speeds exceeding 250 km/h diminished day by day. Imagine a skier at top speed and caught by a wind gust. The last couple a days skiers had to wait for better circumstances. There were moments of severe coldness with temperatures below -18 degrees and strong winds. It felt like minus 32 !!! Not really comfortable in thight rubber!    

Finals
In stead of 2 runs a day, two days followed with only 1 run. Not as fast as planned, but Merijn had to threat each run as the final one. With a fantastic run in the semi-finals Merijn qualified himself as the 5th fastest skier with 202 km/h. The day of the final was a little disapointing; with a speed of 210 km/h and a 13th place. But more important again a lot of fun and speed in the first race of the season! 

Results FIS World Cup Speedski Vars