I am writing this letter to explain about the cause of my accident and clarify misconceptions of what actually happened at Verbier during the World Championship.
It has been insinuated, that I remained purposefully in a tucked position after the photocell, in order to do a jump on the small bump after the green line. I am not that stupid to consider such a dangerous act, whilst traveling at almost 220kmh, although evidently there are some individuals who consider this to be the case.
Firstly, I would like to state that I am amazed, that a competition such as the World Championships has never succeeded to respect the departure times, which have always been delayed by at least one hour and in the case of the final, almost two hours!
Returning to the main issue, my accident. I can say with all confidence that I fell, because I had not seen the red line signaling the end of timing area. Therefore, I remained in position until I saw the green line. When I realized myself to be on the green line, by that time it was in fact too late. At this point, I started to stand up, but as I was on the small bump my skis lifted away from the snow, consequently causing my fall.
I would like to remind you that due to poor visibility and the previous fall of Emily, both Marc Poncin and then myself asked from the point of departure of the competition, that the red line should in fact be repassed for security reasons. Bearing in mind that it was draw at 10am with raspberry juice and due to the high temperatures during the day, at 3pm it was no longer visible. The organization reply was that "There was no longer time".
I have clearly outlined the simple cause of my accident. I would like to remind those who believe that I remained in a tucked position, on purpose, following timing area, that this is not the case. For me, the competition begins at the point of departure, where you find the starting line and finishes, at the red line which signals the end of the timing area.
See you, Simone
Speed Ski
S (54/55)
Ski_de_vitesse_Coupe_du_Monde_VARS.pdf
