Speed skiing

Speed skiing is the fastest non-motorised sport on earth: a straight line, long skis, and gravity. After racing alpine and ski cross, I first raced it internationally in 2011, representing Great Britain. I retired in 2021, ranked 5th in the world, and returned to the circuit part time in the 2022/23 season.

Record

FIS Speed Ski World Cup champion, 2014, Speed 2 category, raced on downhill skis.
Personal best: 231.66 km/h, set at the Speed Masters, Vars, France, 2015. The fastest by a Briton since 2005, and the third fastest Briton ever.
210.035 km/h on downhill skis, Vars, 2014: third in the category’s history.
World indoor speed skiing record: 104.956 km/h, set at SnowHall Amnéville, France, 18 May 2015.
Best world ranking in S1, the top category: 5th, in the 2018 and 2020 seasons.
World Cup podium at Sun Peaks, Canada, 6 March 2018.
Crashed at 216.56 km/h at Vars on 21 March 2016. Returned to racing beyond 200 km/h.
Returned part time in the 2022/23 season: 8th at the World Cup finals, 2023.
27th, FIS Speed Ski World Championships, Vars, 2025, eleven months after knee surgery.
First speed skier appointed to the FIS Athletes’ Commission.

Press

2026 El Mundo: “El británico de Alcobendas que bajará a 200 km/h por Navacerrada”, and in print, Gran Madrid, 19 February: “A 200 km/h por la nieve de Navacerrada”, on the first speed ski descent in the Sierra de Guadarrama. The page.
2025 Europa Press: “Jan Farrell y MasOrange trasladan la gestión del riesgo a directivos de telecomunicaciones en Navacerrada”.
2025 Turiski: the Vars World Championships report, on the comeback at 202.031 km/h.
2023 Diario AS: “Jan Farrell regresa al speed ski para celebrar la histórica marca de Simon Billy”.
2023 Diario AS: “Jan Farrell vuelve a las pistas para retar a los grandes operadores de telefonía”.
2022 CNN: “Lost Sports of the Winter Olympics: Speed skiers burning snow and skin”, with CNN’s video report.
2021 Marca: “Jan Farrell anuncia su retirada del deporte no motorizado más rápido del planeta”.
2021 PlanetSKI: “GB Speed Skier Jan Farrell Retires”.
2021 InTheSnow: “Speed Skier Jan Farrell Announces Retirement”.
2020 Diario AS: “Esquiar a 231 km/h: cuestión de pericia y de gestionar el miedo”.
2020 Europa Press: “Estoy feliz por volver a estar entre los cinco hombres más rápidos del planeta”.
2020 Antena 3, on air and online: the first night speed ski competition in history, raced at 155 km/h.
2018 El País: “SpeedSki, la Fórmula 1 sobre nieve”.
2018 Financial Times: “Speed skiing: too fast for the Olympics”.
2018 Euronews: “Watch: World’s fastest skiers race down slopes at 200 km per hour”.
2018 Marca Motor, January, in print: “Vivir a más de 200”, a four-page feature. The spread.
2017 Mundo Deportivo: “Era como estar tumbado en una sartén con aceite hirviendo”.
2016 ABC: “Jan Farrell, el hombre contra la física”.
2016 Diario AS: “Jan Farrell bate el récord del mundo de esquí sobre asfalto”.
2016 Financial Times, Travel, 28 October: a briefing on the asphalt speed skiing world record at MotorLand Aragón.
2016 The Telegraph: “Sparks fly as Jan Farrell breaks asphalt speed ski world record”.
2016 Onda Cero: “A nivel de equipamiento, el Speed Ski es como la Fórmula 1”.
2015 BBC Newsround, 18 May: “Jan Farrell attempts 7 speed records”. The page.
2015 France 3, 18 May: “104,956 km/h au Snowhall : record du monde battu par Jan Farrell”. The page.
2015 The Independent, May, in print: “Speed skiing starts at 120mph - anything less is just skiing”. The page.
2015 Fuera de Serie, Expansión, 21 March, the cover: “El Hombre Bala”. The cover, and the feature.
2015 BBC Sport, 4 March: “Jan Farrell: British speed skier on going 130mph downhill”. The page.
2015 The New York Times, 10 February, in print: on testing the Dainese D-air airbag for speed skiing. The page, and the front page.
2015 Wired, 6 February: “The Inflatable Suit That’s Protecting Ski Racers in 90 MPH Crashes”. The page.
2014 El País: “Jan Farrell gana la Copa del Mundo de esquí de velocidad”.
2014 El País: “Cuando me caiga me dolerá”.
2014 Diario AS: “El hispano-británico Jan Farrell se impone en la final a 159,49 km/h”.
2014 Diario Sport: “El esquiador hispano-británico Jan Farrell gana la Copa del Mundo de esquí de velocidad”.
2014 Marca: “La próxima temporada competiré en la máxima categoría”.

Television

Broadcast pieces, as aired.

2026 Antena 3 Deportes, February: the Telco Ski Day and the first speed ski descent of the Sierra de Guadarrama. The report, and from the studio.
2019 Antena 3, Informativos, 13 February: a reportaje on the season. The 15:00 and 21:00 editions.
2019 La Sexta, Zapeando, 15 February: the segment, on the season and The Women of Speed Ski.
2019 Telemadrid, Informativo Noche, 14 February: racing in Salla, Finland.
2019 TVE, Telediario, 11 February: the season start and The Women of Speed Ski.
2018 TVE, España Directo, 1 November: at Masella.
2016 Cuatro, Deportes, 25 October: the asphalt world record at MotorLand.
2015 TVE, Telediario, 7 February: the D-air airbag reportaje.
2015 TVE, Teledeporte, 26 February: live from the World Cup.
2013 BBC, 1 March: a two-part report on British speed skiing. Part one, and part two.

Profiles and features

FIS athlete biography and results.
GB Snowsport athlete profile.
Red Bull: interview as speed skiing ambassador.
Fall-Line Skiing: “15 minutes with speed demon Jan Farrell”.
InTheSnow: a ten-minute interview.
Snow Magazine: “British skier 6th fastest skier in the world, despite 134mph crash”.
Channel 4, Speed with Guy Martin, 2014: for the series finale, Guy Martin set the gravity sled world record, 134.368 km/h, on my home track at Grandvalira. I helped organise the attempt and forerode the course.
History, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, 2014: I raced Eric Barone, the fastest man on a bicycle, head to head at Hintertux, Austria. He set a new record on the run.

Films

My films on YouTube have 17 million views. Three worth starting with:

The 2016 Speed Masters: 254.958 km/h, the fastest non-motorised humans on the planet.
The 2023 world record: 255.5 km/h.
My own fastest run: 231.66 km/h at Vars.