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Oldest Person to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
On July 20, Vail resident Fred Distelhorst, age 88, became the oldest human to climb Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. Distelhorst, a retired orthodontist, hiked up the 19,341-foot mountain with his granddaughter in just six days.
Most Pistes Skied in Eight Hours
No one has finished more “pistes” (groomed runs) in eight hours than Coloradan Jim Harlan and Vermont native Larry Olmsted, who partnered to schuss 64 ski runs at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in March 2012. Harlan, who has quadriplegia and once served as a ski patrol dispatcher for the area, used his intimate knowledge of the resort to pinpoint optimal descents.
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World Speed Record for Skiing in a Straitjacket
This past April, Breckenridge resident Jay DeBaggis clocked 64 mph while skiing with a straitjacket restricting his arm movement. Having unknowingly trained for the attempt by skiing without poles for nearly a decade, DeBaggis invented the stunt as a fundraiser for the Summit County Mountain Mentors program (similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters).
Climbing the Highest Point in Each State in Record Time
From the summit of Denali in Alaska (a towering 20,310 feet) to the top of Britton Hill in Florida (a measly 345 feet), Colorado College student Maddie Miller trekked to the highest point in every state in a record 41 days, 16 hours, and 10 minutes (including travel time between states) in the summer of 2016 (Editor’s note: This record has since been broken). Bonus: She also became the first woman to complete the challenge in fewer than 50 days.
Colorado Trail Mountain Bike Record
In July 2016, Crested Butte resident Neil Beltchenko biked the Colorado Trail in an absurd three days, 19 hours, and 40 minutes—which only included three hours of sleep. The biking route covers more than 500 miles between Denver and Durango and includes more than 70,000 total feet of elevation gain.
Most Human-Powered BASE Jumps in 24 Hours
BASE jumper Danny Weiland leapt off the 486-foot tall Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, 64 times over 24 hours this past September. The Denverite completed the daring feat by jumping off the bridge, hiking up the adjacent hill, and then riding his bike back to the middle of the bridge to repeat the whole process.
