The Need for Speed with Jacob Perkins

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Big Picture Skiing podcast. On today's show, you're going to meet Jacob Perkins, and Jacob Perkins is into speed skiing. He's into skiing in a straight line down a really steep slope as fast as you can and reducing all wind drag if possible through wearing a rubber suit and a crazy aerodynamic helmet. So I think this is quite an interesting interview as you get to learn a little bit more about what these people do in terms of modifying their equipment, training, and thinking about skiing when all you're trying to do is go as fast as seriously possible. So Jacob actually has a background in engineering and manufacturing, and I think this plays into some strengths for him because he can use that to help tweak and modify some of his equipment, which is where a lot of speed and enhancements come from. Anyway, without further ado, I'm going to throw it over to the interview with Jacob Perkins, World Cup speed skier, with his mission to bring speed skiing back into the Olympic Games for 2026. I hope you enjoy this. Let's go. Jacob, how fast have you been clocked skiing? What's the fastest?

I have been clocked over 103.74 miles an hour.

What's that in kilometers for people who are—

uh, that would be around 167 kilometers an hour.

Okay. And what does it feel like going that fast?

Uh, smooth and fast while you're accelerating, but actually once you— once you get past the acceleration phase It feels kind of like you're coasting.

Yeah, okay. Would you say it's not as— like, do you think it's scary?

Sometimes, yes, it is scary.

Okay, okay.

I'm not gonna lie. And it's not, it's not the speed or, uh, or I guess the inherent danger. It's, it's some— for me, it's sometimes the, the track or the heights. They're— the tracks are very steep in very long.

Yeah, I know. I mean, at Sun Peaks in Canada, there was, I think, an old track there, and that's on like a black to double black pitch, and they've groomed it at times. That's a steep run, so I can imagine that that's probably more like going through your mind than actually just the speed element.

Correct.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And have you had any major Crashes?

Yeah, actually this past season I crashed at over 100 miles an hour. Um, it was definitely tough for me. It was my first major crash, even though overall it was my best season. Um, and I learned a lot from it and luckily walked away actually just with minor injuries.

Oh wow, okay, awesome. So we should, we should get to the beginning, like how, how did you get into trying to ski as fast as you can, a straight line down a hill. And, you know, you want to go to the Olympics, which— and it's possible that this will be, uh, added to the next Olympics. So yeah, tell us where it all began.

Well, it began after college. I was looking to get back into ski racing. I played tennis at Southern Illinois and Wright State University. I realized that I likely wasn't going to go pro in tennis. It's very, very, very tough, and I had a lot of passion for skiing and likewise in ski racing. I participated in slalom and giant slalom before college, and I realized also I wasn't cut out for the U.S. Ski Team in those disciplines. And I was looking for some— for my niche where I could participate and compete. I love competing. I love being able to use my technical expertise and knowledge and apply that in, in sports. And I just kind of reached out to different ski disciplines and in different areas, and the speed skiing community welcomed me with open arms. There, there were several skiers early on that helped me with understanding the equipment setup and understanding the sport. And I think that is really what put me on the speed skiing, was the community helped me get into it. And without them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

So what have you got to get in terms of setup for, uh, like, what's, what's different? Like, what are— maybe go through, like, what are the skis like? Are your boots any different? Are the bindings any different? Yeah, let's hear the equipment.

Yeah, every— everything— it's a modified sport. Everything is different. Uh, the skis are 238 centimeters. Um, the, the bindings typically are, um, Atomic 1018 or some high, uh, dense setting, uh, ski race binding. Um, the, the bindings are typically mounted further back on the skis. The, the boots are modified as well. They have a lot of forward lean in them. They're typically softer, softer flexing boots. The helmet is probably the most unique part of the sport. Everybody typically has some sort of design, or, and everybody's helmet is unique to their body type, but it's very aerodynamic and it's very custom for each each racer, uh, and then the poles as well are bent so that you can get into a tuck, um, unrestricted. Um, and then lastly, the suit, um, is, uh, some sort of rubber or plasticized material. Um, different materials are used. Um, mine's mainly made out of latex.

Okay, and, and within that, is that heavily like sanctioned? Like, are you, are you, are there rules? Like the, you said the helmet's individual, like, is there, are there kind of restrictions on that?

Yes, yeah, after, after every run at a FIS, uh, race or even at some of the national races, uh, they'll have officials at the bottom of the hill and they'll do several tests. One, one of the, uh, main tests is the hoop test, which is where they take your speed ski helmet and they have this hoop where they pass it up and sideways, and they make sure that the outer dimensions of the helmet are not too wide. They make sure that you're wearing your, your proper protective gear under your suit, and then they make sure that, like, your skis are, are standard skis, that you haven't done anything funny to your bindings or or, you know, have too much weight in your poles, or basically just making sure that all the dimensions and specifications set forth in the FIS— they have a FIS regulation manual— that you're meeting all those requirements.

Yeah, okay. So because what are the, what are the things that make you go really fast, right? Like, what can you, what can you tweak?

Um, so the helmet definitely is, uh, I, I believe a huge part of it. And why a wider helmet would help is because you're, you're smoothing off your, uh, your aerodynamic, uh, profile. Yes. Your shoulders. If your helmet was able to be made wider, then you could get your shoulders in, um, even, even further and you would be able to go faster. Um, two, weight is a big, I think a big factor. Um, you typically see in the speed events, um, as, as well as more of the top guys, they're, they're typically larger in size or over 6 feet, over 200 pounds. Um, I definitely think if it's not necessarily the overall weight, but it's the aerodynamics, how much weight can you put into a smaller frame? So if you can, if you can make yourself heavier and still stay the same size denser, so to speak, you will go faster, especially on a longer track because you need more time to get up to speed. And then lastly is the, is the wax, um, is a huge part, um, on the skis. And recently FIS is moving away from the fluoro, um, fluoro wax. I've, I've gone completely, uh, fluoro-free. They're still in the, in the kind of infant phases of trying to to come up with a good testing method for, uh, for the skis for speed skiing, just because it's not as high volume as some of the alpine sports. But those 3 things together, uh, would definitely add a couple K for sure.

So is your helmet at all a little like— because you, like, people— so people know you've, you've got an engineering degree. Yeah, that's, that's what you do. So I'm— I must imagine you're pretty into all that kind of modifying stuff. Did you do and design your own helmet?

Um, I, I put input into designing my own helmet, but it's made by KL Dynamic. They produce a lot of the speed skiing helmets for the Swedish team, um, as well as several of the other European teams. Um, but I, I mean, the helmet is custom to my body. It's— it fits my shoulders, it fits my head. There's an inner breakaway helmet on the helmet as well that has to be fitted to your head. So I mean, the measurements are fairly, uh, uh, spot on, you could say.

Yeah, okay, okay. And then what about— so that's equipment side. What about like even personally, technique-wise, like what have you been working on, the minutia, to get your— because it's the shape of your body obviously that's the other thing that's gonna have a huge impact on speed.

Yes, yeah, the two things the very top guys, uh, do in speed skiing is one, they keep their skis very, very flat regardless of the terrain they're experiencing or the speed at which they're going. You'll see a lot of racers as the speed increases, or maybe they hit a compression or the track isn't quite flat, they'll rail their skis on edge to try to give them a kind of a base of support. So keeping that ski very, very flat. And then secondly is a lot of racers tend— it's not necessarily how low you are in your tuck, but a lot of them sometimes have their head up more so they can see out visually. Because things are coming so fast at those speeds. But you want to actually try to keep your head down and tucked in because the way the helmet is designed is it's designed— it's not actually designed for your flat back, but we all wear back protectors. So by being able to keep your helmet down and stay in a compact tuck, you're able to keep that helmet against your back protector and, and retain that aerodynamic flow.

And so a typical, like, like, day from this last winter of training, like, what, what does, what sort of, what does that look like? Are you using video? Are you like, what sort of technology? And, and how much time is spent in a training session?

Yeah, it's a huge amount of it is preparation. I mean, I'm already preparing for next year, waxing skis, getting, getting the gear together. I write down the adjustments that I need to make this year because it takes a long time to make all the changes for the following year. And then two is I just typically do runs at 50% of, of like what would be my max or comfortable. So I'm going around 50 to 60 miles an hour, 100 kilometers an hour. Um, it's— I mean, it's fairly fast for a recreational skier, but on longer skis like that, it's, it's, it's actually fairly slow. But being able to practice in your gear and, and get comfortable being at— in the right position at the slow speeds translates to the speed, um, when, when you get over 100 miles an hour.

Yeah, okay, because like your, your boots, you said, uh like, like there's more forward lean?

Yes.

Is that— yeah, like, like what's the difference between, like, say, your normal ski boots and then your, your speed skiing boots?

Yeah, so I've always grown up in skiing on, on a Race Boot, which is typically, I would say, around like 17 degrees of forward lean. And more recently they've even, even put it even further forward. Um, we're typically around 25 to 30-plus degrees of forward lean. Um, so it's— you're, you're, you're feeling like you're leaning out, um, over the ski. Now the ski is a really long ski and you're really far back on the ski, so it actually feels normal, but it is a weird feeling at, at first.

Is it, is it for like, uh, not only the forward position, like, but being out of forward and just be really low, right? Like, like to get your tuck position better that, that, that lower leg angle, it's, um, is that the main reason?

Uh, so it, yes, it's to, it's to be able to, because you're mounted further back on the skis, you're able to, that having all that forward lean, and a lot of people also have, excuse me, a high ramp angle in their ski boot. Um, so they'll either put a wedge on or a heel lift in their ski boot Um, and that just allows you to get into a tuck better. Now I've seen racers that don't have an excess, as excessive amount of forward lean, um, or have a, either a wedge installed in the back of their boot or under their heel to aid. Um, and I think that that kind of goes to the biomechanics too of the person. Not, not everybody is the same and some people have more mobility in their ankle and can get into a tuck more comfortably. But the biggest thing is you need to be able to hold that tuck no matter what's coming at you, because if, because if you get out of that tuck at those speeds, it's, it's game, game over.

Is that what happened with your crash?

Um, no, actually there was a strong crosswind in the course. Um, I actually had a great run, um, and then, and I actually completed the run. It was right after the finish crossing through the finish line, um, there was just, there was a lot of wind. They had pulled some people before I went. I was actually hesitant. Should I go on this run? Should I not? I went on the run. Um, I was feeling good. And then when I got there, all of a sudden there was a, there was a strong wind. It knocked me off just that very little second. I lost focus. And, um, and then it was game over. I mean, things change, things change very quick. Quickly at those speeds.

Like, did the skis release?

Uh, yes, the one that hooked up did release, and then the other, I just slid on my back while that one was on. And I made sure, um, not to let it dig in because if you let it dig in at those speeds, it's— even if it releases, I've seen a lot of people have problems. But one of the things we do from a safety standpoint is the tips and, and, uh, the tails of the ski are dulled a lot. And that's one, in case of a crash, that if it was to hit us, it's not going to cut us as severely or not cut us at all. And then two, it keeps the skis from wanting to hook up.

Yeah, I mean, can you turn— can you turn those things?

Yeah, you can, you can side, uh, side slip, uh do pivot slips. You can make tight turns. Are— can you carve? You can't carve on those skis. They're made just for going straight in the line. But we have to get to the track, which is, in my opinion, is one of the hardest things about speed skiing, because a lot of the tracks you have to, you have to actually get there by taking a rope. You're on the side of a cliff. You're— you have to get there through a cat track or something. So you have to be able to turn in pretty tight corners, and you have to be able to slip out onto the course.

So this episode is sponsored by Carv, the digital ski coach, and one of the updates I've really enjoyed this season is the addition of separate SkiIQs for moguls and short turns. In the past, Carv scoring was mainly built around carving metrics, which meant everything was viewed through that lens. But Carv have gone deep on that research and completely separated what makes a great short turn or mogul turn different from a carved turn. To give you an idea of how accurate it's become, the person at the top of the Carv leaderboard right now isn't a carving specialist, it's Olympic mogul skier Matt Graham. So the best SkiIQ in the world at the moment is coming from someone who lives and breathes bumps, and to be honest, my own highest SkiIQ is also in the moguls, which makes sense because that's my favorite type of skiing. What's really exciting this year is the addition of turn tempo, so basically your turns per minute. It's such a simple external output that's incredibly fun to play with. So good skiing isn't just about edge similarity or parallel skis, it's about how you interact with the terrain and whether you can change your tempo on demand. So seeing numbers like my quickest tempo of 117 turns per minute in the bumps gives you something concrete to compare, refine, and work toward. I've been working with Carv since 2020, and every year I'm genuinely impressed with how much the product evolves. They keep expanding what you can measure, and they're covering more and more of the turn types that skiers actually use all over the mountain. So if you're interested in tracking not just your carving but every turn you make on the snow, check out Carv. And a big thanks to the team for supporting this episode.

Yeah, wow, that's, that's one of the most tricky bits. Yes, okay, crazy. Um, And so, uh, like, to get that forward lean, if you had to re-drill the cuffs, like, did you, or did you— yeah, what did you do? What's it— what's your boot?

So I ski in an Atomic World Cup 110. It's a just a standard, um, their standard model. There was nothing special. It was the narrow— you want to get as narrow of a profile boot, but one of the regulations, um, they have is it has to be a standard boot. You can't have a custom, like, molded boot that has an extra narrow outside last. That would be nice because that would, that would probably give you a couple extra K. But the boot is a standard stock boot, and to get the forward lean, the first thing I did was remove a lot of the material on the front of the cuff of the boot. And that, because if you don't do that, then the front cuff of the boot, when you flex the boot forward, will catch on that, on that lower cuff. So you remove it in a kind of a U-shaped cut right below the buckle. Then the second thing you have to do to allow the boot to flex forward is you have to remove the material on the back part of the boot. Now, some boots are a mono-injected shell or they're multiple pieces, but the important thing is that upper and lower cuff, you need, you need to be able to clip it off so the upper cuff doesn't run on the back side into the lower section of the boot. Um, and then the third thing is, so now that you've allowed the boot to move through the full range of motion, you need to do something to keep the boot flexed forward. Um, a comp— you'll see a lot of race boots, they have the spoiler on the back of the boot, like that, uh, piece. It's like kind of a rubber U-shape you just put in your liner in the back of the boot. Some racers do that and then just put several. I found that you have to be kind of careful on that because if you put too much back there, it can, it can kind of cut off the circulation of your foot. I think the better solution is between the upper and lower cuff of the boot to put like a plastic, a piece of plastic or a wedge in there and then screw it in from the inside, and that'll keep the boot flex to whatever desired angle that you, you want to have.

Now, you were mentioning just before we started recording that speed skiing is, is on a comeback kind of trajectory. So do you want to talk about that and like what your goals are?

Yeah, so the, the biggest goal I have is to try to bring back a North American circuit We've been in the process of reaching out to resorts both in Canada and in the United States to see if anybody would be interested. Currently, there are several homologated tracks, and what I mean by homologated means that they've been approved by a FIS official that they're legal and safe to run a race at a specified speed and that they have the adequate runout and slope angle to host the race. Currently, there's like Mammoth that you can— we're working on trying to get something there. There's several, like I said, resorts in Canada where we've been exploring and trying to get something, but that would be great to get a couple races back in North America. Um, there recently was— you had referred to the Sun Peaks race that used to be a World Cup race. Um, I think, I think that was canned like around 2010 to 2015. It's been a couple— it's been several years since they've hosted that race. We would like to see that race come back as well. Um, so there's a lot going on And then likewise in Europe, um, they have quite a few races. Um, but what I would like to see is some of the other teams creating a, a good pipeline of junior racers, um, to get them interested in the sport over there. I think France, they do a great job of, of working with the junior racers and getting them, um, on the right path to participate. Um, in the upper categories of speed skiing. But definitely seeing that in the other national ski teams would be a goal of mine as well. And if there's any way I can help, um, uh, I, I would like to be a part of that.

Nice. And I mean, what's, what's the likelihood you think of it becoming an Olympic sport again? Because it was, it was, wasn't it?

Yes, it was a demonstration sport in the Albertville Olympics in '92. They again tried, they almost got it into the Olympics in 2006 in Torino. And it was kind of at the last minute, my understanding, that it was pulled. I think it should be in, in the Olympics. It's a fist sport. It's been a fist sport for many, many years. It's, it has a very safe track record for If you look at the fatalities and the number of years the sport has gone on, it's actually very, very low for people on the track participating in the sport. I've seen several people crash and they walk away with minor injuries, and that's because we take safety very seriously. So I think the big thing is I know there's a lot of politics involved with the Olympic committee and the, in the host country. But I think a good goal would maybe be either, I think, in the upcoming Olympics in Milan, that if they could possibly bring it back there because speed skiing is big in Italy, or maybe in the following one. I think it's a possibility. I just think you have to get the right people on board. And, and it starts by promoting the sport and getting people interested and getting competitions not just in Europe and in the East, but also getting some competitions going on here in North America.

Yeah, that's, that's your, that's your main goal, it sounds like, get— getting the circuit back in North America. Yeah, cool. So what's your best result so far, uh, when you went over to Europe?

Yeah, so my best result was 18th, um, that was in the Swedish Nationals, and then I had a couple top 20 finishes as well on the World Cup in, um, in both Finland and Sweden.

Nice, nice. And what's— how far away? Like, is it pretty tight, that top? Like, does it not separate by much?

No, it isn't. The, uh, so I, I was like one— I'll just pick the, the one where I was 1:67. I was 1:67, the winner was like 1:75. It's a couple. Okay, it's a couple K. Yeah, it's— there's, there's not much. And the track record Um, which was actually broken this year on a different race was 181. So it's a very tight range, um, between the top racers and, and some of the lower tier racers.

Yeah, okay, okay. Is that the guy who did 181, what's he built like?

His body? Yeah, he's very well built. Um, but, but he's, he's not Uh, he's not big, he's strong, and he's, he's very lean.

Yeah, okay, like you said, he's— this is like dense muscle packed in, not broad, because it's very specific, right? Yeah, the aerodynamics, but the weight.

Yeah, he's probably like, I would say, 6'2", um, slightly over 200 pounds, fairly narrow shoulder profile. But strong, um, and well-built overall.

So how do you train? Like, do you have a specific program that you like work on to build that type of muscle?

Yeah, so it's, it's— I do a lot of, um, circuit training, um, where I do, uh, moderate level weights but at a fairly high intensity with, with little break. Um, I go— I'll do a full body workout I don't just like do one particular exercise when I go to the gym. I try to, to work out everything because you really need everything to be strong. I mean, even your neck. Uh, I know some racers that do exercises just like in car racing. Um, they do right because you're pulling a lot of G's at the bottom of the hill. Um, it's important. Everything, your, your neck, your back, your shoulders, your legs, it all— the weak link is going to break. At 100 miles an hour. So you got to train everything. And I think also incorporating, um, some, some cardio as well. I, I used to do more running, but, um, as I'm starting to get a little bit older, I've, I've switched more to doing biking, um, or trying to do other cross-training activities. I play a lot of tennis still in the summer. I think, I think it's great to do some, some different sports and other things. Um, especially in the offseason.

Yeah, cool. And how, how tall are you and what do you weigh?

I'm about 6 foot 175 to 180.

Okay. Yep. Okay, so you, you're planning on getting a little more for next, next winter?

Yeah, I usually try to get up to about 180, uh, when, when the season starts I'm about 185 to 190 or 195, and then as the season goes on I lose muscle mass. It's hard to keep it on, especially when you're skiing every day. And, and then I try to build it back up in the summer the best I can.

Yeah, great. Jacob, anything, any final words you want to part with here about, about speed skiing?

Or—

yeah, uh, if you want to get interested in speed skiing and you're here in North America, check out speedski.com. There's a lot of great resources for, for helmet manufacturers, for getting the equipment, for fellow racers. There are several profiles for different speed skiers, and there's a wealth of information as, as on there as well. Also, I would highly recommend checking out Um, the Highway to Speed Skiing Facebook page, they have a lot of, um, content for speed skiing, and it's a great way to connect with members of the community. And lastly, if you want to reach out to me personally, check out jacobperkins.org.

Excellent. Well, thanks so much for your time, Jacob. It's been really interesting. Just getting into the, like, the, the details of this sport. I think you're crazy, but, um, but, uh, but I like it. I like it. So I wish you all—

yeah, yeah, if you ever want to try it, let me know. I got, I got plenty of extra gear, so I'm sure you'd be a natural at it.

Okay, well, I mean, I, I get, I get that the equipment stuff, that really, like you said, on those skis, like, going 60 miles an hour, it's kind of like you know, that makes a big difference, right? It's not the same as just trying to do that on your normal skis you ski on.

Yes.

Yeah, and then yeah, huge difference. Yeah, great. Well, thank you, thank you. Oh, we'll see if I'm crazy enough to take you up on that offer. All right, thanks Jacob.

Yeah, thank you Tom, appreciate it.

This episode is sponsored by Carv, the digital ski coach, and one of the updates I've really enjoyed this season is the addition of separate Ski IQs for moguls and short-term In the past, Carv scoring was mainly built around carving metrics, which meant everything was viewed through that lens. But Carv have gone deep on that research and completely separated what makes a great short turn or mogul turn different from a carved turn. To give you an idea of how accurate it's become, the person at the top of the Carv leaderboard right now isn't a carving specialist, it's Olympic mogul skier Matt Graham. So the best SkiIQ in the world at the moment is coming from someone who lives and breathes bumps. And to be honest, my own highest SkiIQ is also in the moguls, which makes sense because that's my favorite type of skiing. What's really exciting this year is the addition of turn tempo, so basically your turns per minute. It's such a simple external output that's incredibly fun to play with. So good skiing isn't just about edge similarity or parallel skis, it's about how you interact with the terrain and whether you can change your tempo on demand. So seeing numbers like my quickest tempo of 117 turns per minute in the bumps gives you something concrete to compare, refine, and work toward. I've been working with Carv since 2020, and every year I'm genuinely impressed with how much the product evolves. They keep expanding what you can measure, and they're covering more and more of the turn types that skiers actually use all over the mountain. So if you're interested in tracking not just your carving but every turn you make on the snow, Check out Carve, and a big thanks to the team for supporting this episode.