Pippa Middleton Does 'Really Good' in World's Longest (and Scariest!) Ski Race
Pippa Middleton didn’t just finish the world’s longest downhill ski race, in Switzerland, on Saturday – she did so in respectable time.
The royal sibling and extreme sports enthusiast finished the legendary Inferno race, in Mürren, placing 67th out of 105 participants in her category in the daredevil descent.
“For her it was a really positive result and she was really, really happy to finish the race,” event spokesperson Sam Bichsel tells PEOPLE, adding, “She did really good!”
Despite the 32-year-old’s skiing experience (and general athletic ability) Princess Kate‘s sporty sister was apprehensive before she set off, Bichsel says.
“She was a little bit nervous at the start because it was the first time she has done a race like this,” he says.
“It’s one of the hardest races you can do in the alpine sport, almost 15 kilometers downhill and a little bit uphill, too – it’s not easy.”
But that’s just how she made it look.
Founded in 1928 by a bunch of daredevil Brits, the Inferno is not only the oldest one of its kind, but it’s also considered to be the most grueling: The length of the course is 14.9 kilometers, with a drop in altitude of 2770 meters.
In addition to the steep and icy slopes, narrow passages and uphill sections, there’s also a risk of colliding into one of the 1,850 other participants.
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But Middleton was well prepared.
Having become known for her love of extreme sporting challenges, she completed the Otillo swim-runin Sweden in September with both her brother James Middleton and her now-boyfriend James Matthews, in support of a charity named for Matthews’ brother.
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In June 2014, Middleton joined a cycling team on a grueling 3,000-mile trek from California to Maryland, also in support of the Matthews charity.
Not to mention her skiing record – as when she participated in a 56-mile cross-country charity race in Vasaloppet, Sweden, in 2012, and in Switzerland’s Engadin Marathon.
Sans her new beau, Middleton entered the Inferno race this year with her friends from the exclusive Kandahar ski club in the U.K, whose members actually founded the Inferno back in 1928.
They’ll have plenty to celebrate now that the event is complete.
“There is a big party for all the participants, and she is with a large group of people from Great Britain,” Bichsel says, “so I’m sure she will have a nice party!”
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