Where there's a road that goes up, in-line skates can improve on Newtonian principles by going down with far more gusto than a falling apple. Gravity-fed runs mainline into a skater's system the same addictive mix of awe and terror that downhill skiing provides.

Long downhill runs on in-lines are intense spiritual riffs, but they can truly exercise and prepare the muscles for the winter slopes as well. So slalom away! As quads and glutes fire in opposition to gravity to limit your speed on steep asphalt grades, you'll be strengthening and conditioning yourself in a big way.

My search for the ultimate rush on in-lines has taken me all over the world. I'm a lucky dog to have skated down hills in Austria, Barbados, Belgium, China, Colombia, France, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Thailand, Tanzania, Tahiti, the continental United States and Vietnam. For me, flying downslope is all the sweeter if I've reached the top under my own steam (but that's not to say I haven't hitched or skitched on occasion, either).

I recently stoked my skating passion when I plowed up and screamed down majestic canyons in and around Aspen, Colorado. Gold tumbled from the sky, fat flakes of fall, onto roads with names like Maroon Bells and Castle Creek. These asphalt ribbons snaked their way up canyons, enticing with ever more spectacular views with each increase in elevation. Bright strips of aspen trees clung to rocky defiles. Glacial basins with high alpine meadows were rimmed by snow-capped granite peaks. Up and up and up.

Many factors inter-relate to produce the vector experience. Figuring into the mix, among other things, are pavement quality, technical difficulty, scenery, the traffic situation, weather conditions, equipment and fitness level. Notwithstanding, here is my current list of the top seven wonders of the downhill world.

1) Mt. Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii 10,023 feet
I skated from the house of the sun - Mount Haleakala - down to the ocean in 1996, on Maui, Hawaii. I was driven up 38 miles of silken-smooth asphalt ribbon to the rim of the largest volcanic crater in the world. The descent was an endless downhill run - 38 miles, to be exact - of sun-drenched, tonsil-ripping fun. To get to the bottom you have to handle 48 switchbacks, and sometimes it got precarious because of wet pavement or because my legs got so tired.

Each switchback is a hairpin turn which redirects the road nearly 180 degrees. If I hit those turns going just a few miles per hour over the posted speed limit, the centrifugal forces fighting to pull me out of that turn were huge.

2) Mt. Fuji, Japan, 12,083 feet
I created my own amusement ride by skate-skiing down Mt. Fuji in November of 1998. The road goes up halfway, plenty high enough to provide a killer view as well as a thrilling ride down. The skate takes you from barren alpine desert down through coniferous forest and into woodlands displaying colorful fall coats.

Slaloming is a prerequisite to getting down from the top. There are some braking turns with exposure but, past a certain point, the road is well engineered for downnhill bombing. The coaster ride terminates at the Fujikyu Highlands, an amusement park with thrill rides and lots of artificial ice for skating of a different sort.

3) Mt. Kintamani, Bali, Indonesia
Mt. Kintamani is one of Bali's most recently active volcanos, accessible by skates via smooth roads from capital city Denpasar. It rewards amply with staggering vistas of lush volcanic peaks cut by valleys containing twisted taffy strands of lava.

The grade is gentle yet punishing for 50K until it punches up through the clouds for 10K of lung-collapsing sinuousity. Monkeys sit by the side of the road on their haunches and tilt their heads at you slightly as you huff your way uphill. Waiting for you at the top are friendly passion fruit sellers and soup warungs operating out of caves or along the edge of the lake.

Beware of fog and rain-slick pavement; it's sure to make the descent life-threatening if you aren't already a veteran rain-skater well-schooled in braking techniques.

4) Belvedere Road, Moorea, Tahiti
This lung-burner in paradise is freshly paved and climbs up just a few miles to one of the most spectactular panoramic vistas in the world, the Cook's Bay and Opanahu Bay overlook on Moorea, French Polynesia. Locals will grill you at the top with deep, dark eyes that question your sanity for having skated to the top, but they'll follow you in their cars on the way down and want to take your picture at the bottom.

Descending the top section is at the top is extremely dangerous and tiring, so it's a relief when you can forget about braking towards the bottom, sit back on your heels and enjoy the view.

5) Mont Ventoux, Provence, France 6109 feet
This mountain is a guaranteed heart-stopper. Mont Ventoux is located in the pre-Alps of Provence, and is frequently climbed during the Tour de France. British rider Tommy Simpson expired on this mountain, and his memorial is plain to see as you wend your way up through wine country from the west side.

In 1992, I parked my grandfather's car at the foot of the mountain in Malaucene and tied on my skates for the adventure to the top. Two-and-a-half arduous hours later, the wind was whipping hard and cold at the summit, but my legs were burning hot. Rows of vines clung to the landscape in geometric forms down below, while alpine peaks loomed on the eastern horizon.

The initial descent is highly technical - narrow with plenty of hairy switchbacks requiring jump turns to keep the skates from ever pointing downhill. By halfway down, though, the road spills out and aquires shoulders, a somewhat gentler grade and a center line. There's very little let-up in the road's drop, however. On the lower reaches, I still had to control speed with slalom turns.

6) Sumatai Approach, Great Wall, China
In 1993, the road I took to the Great Wall had heavenly asphalt, was amply wide, and had only minimal traffic. The road winds gradually up from the Beijing basin into the mountains for 50 kilometers before arriving at a reservoir. Here, the Wall drops down a gorge, gets swallowed by the reservoir, pops back out the other side and snakes its way off through the landscape as far as the eye can see. The section of wall at Sumatai is crumbling and in disrepair, with refreshingly few tourists.

Even though my thighs were aching from a full day of climbing around on the wall, I still was excited to don my skates and boogey back down. I covered the 50 kilometers down to the flatlands in under one-and-a-half hours. There were no steep, technical descents, but plenty of let-'er-rip fun. I received a surprising assortment of amazed stares and thumbs-up from passing drivers, cyclists and field laborers. These spontaneous reactions made me enjoy the ride even more.

7) Ashcroft Grade, Castle Creek Road, Aspen, Colorodo
From the cirque basin at 9,700 feet, the descent is stairstep in fashion, with steep drops followed by more gradually sloping ledges. On the first ledge sits the town of Ashcroft, on whose outskirts stands a skewed log-cabin house of former ill repute.

I was spoiled silly by the raw natural beauty visible from the road on the way down. I reveled and whoop enjoyed a half-hour canyon run to base level This is a road so well engineered you can coast down without fear of skating off the road. Towards the bottom, when I got into an aerodynamic tuck, I coasted past a cyclist who screamed in exasperation,"How do you go so fast on those things?"

Sidebar

The Anti-Push
Whereas a push or leg extension gives speed, the anti-push, or leg flexion, scrubs it. Anti-pushes are comparable to the deep knee bends a skier performs down mogul slopes, where downhill-ski carving pressure perpendicular to the fall line keeps acceleration in check.

Too much carving pressure and you "high side." Your feet stop, all right, but the rest of your body keeps tumbling. The trick is to carve a smoother arc or to release the carving pressure before the high-side occurs. Extending the legs releases the pressure and enables the legs to scissor, a key in shifting weight and connecting successive turns.

So, for the love of your life on in-lines, learn how to slalom. It's not just a ski-specific motion which works the primary muscle groups you'll use on the downhill runs of your dreams. It's best way to keep your speed in check. Even though you're on skates, think skiing. One notable exception - whether slaloming or bombing - is to keep your weight back on your heels at all times. Keep those tips up! This prevents fishtailing, or speed wobbles, and promotes maneuverability and stability at any speed.

Get Gripaliciousness
I call a wheel with good traction "gripalicious." My wheels these days are highly resistant to sliding and incredibly durable, giving me the confidence to rip into my turns from top to bottom without fear of sliding out. For example, after three runs up and down canyon recently in Colorodo, the center seams of my wheels were still visible even after much vigorous slalom action.

Eddy Matzger's worldwide search for the ultimate downhill is made possible by generous endowments by TWINCAM bearings, Salomon skates, Explore wheels, PowerBar energy food, Transpack storage systems and sunglasses, Wigwam socks, and Raymond Verdaguer.