Mind the Gap: Ski Jumping in London's Underground

Mind the gap! Urban skiing is taking off in Britain

Patrick Barkham
Thursday March 29, 2007
The Guardian

You can hear the shout of outrage from an attendant at Angel station as the young Norwegian casually straps on his skis and begins a terrifying descent of the London tube network's highest escalator with a camera strapped to his head.
What London Underground called a "dangerous, stupid and irresponsible" stunt has, predictably, become the latest YouTube sensation, generating 2,000 views every hour yesterday. The skier, a publicity-shy Norwegian in his 20s, whom friends say is called Arild, hurtles down the 90-metre up escalator in north London, skidding safely to a halt at the bottom to the applause of passersby.


The stunt, say the makers of the film, is a classic example of the burgeoning underground (not Underground) sport they call "free ski".
"It's a cross between skiing, snowboarding and skateboarding," says John Spelmann, producer of the freestyle skiing film, Mind the Gap, on which Arild's act appears. "Skiing down mountains is very old stuff now. People want to watch crazy films with people doing stunts in urban areas."

Typical stunts include blagging ice from ice-rinks, building ramps by roads and then jumping the traffic - while filming everything, of course. In Norway, says Spelmann, the police often watch and applaud when free skiers slide down public bannisters.

In Britain, the authorities have been less impressed. According to Spelmann, Arild performed his feat at 11.30pm on a Sunday night when few people were about. He had stationed two friends at the bottom of the escalator to ensure that no one stepped on to it when he was racing down. But a spokesman for British Transport police said it was a "naive and reckless act", and urged witnesses to report anything similar.

Arild is a legend in Norway's free ski subculture, a "crazy half-communist" who pursues thrills over fame or money, according to Spelmann. "He works four months a year then spends the rest of his time skiing. He really is an excellent skier and he's done this stuff many times. He's happy. He just does it."