The final boss of frothing.
Tom Hart has built quite the reputation for himself in the ski community lately. The guy everybody now knows as “Racer Tom” is about as big of a ski nut as you’ll find, given the fact that the 64-year-old has dedicated so much time and energy in recent seasons to logging as much vertical distance as possible — efforts that amounted to the tune of 8.5 million vertical feet in the 2023-2024 winter and earning a Guinness World Record. But even eight-million vertical feet didn’t satiate Racer Tom, apparently because, as he puts it, he “left something on the table” that season.
So, what does it look like when Racer Tom doesn’t leave anything on the table? Try more than 11 million vertical feet and a little over 200 days of riding ski lifts and flying down groomers.
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Hart surpassed his original world record ages ago at this point. By the end of May, he was at Mammoth where he celebrated 10-million vertical feet and had committed to pushing through a June 15 finish line. He was already eyeing the 11-million vertical feet marker by that point. In April, Snowbrains said Hart had been averaging 57,000 vertical feet per day after arriving at Snowbasin 90 minutes before lifts started running each morning.
“I carry two hard-boiled eggs with me and a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I usually take a break every two to two and a half hours to go into the lodge to get water,” he said.
Ikon Pass and Mammoth Mountain celebrated Hart’s 10 million mark back in April. His perspective on the whole thing — setting big goals at 64, enjoying the ride, and smashing through his own personal marks along the way — is inspiring to say the least.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said in May of skiing so often and covering so much ground in the process. “It’s a number that I didn’t think was possible, but anything’s possible, and I’m living proof that encouragement by other people really works.”
The new record of 11.4-million vertical feet has yet to be verified, of course. Hart’s personal deadline was just June 15 with the end of North America’s spring skiing season. Somehow though, it turns out he might not be done and there may some more meat on the bone of his new record. Hart told Deseret News he’s considering a trip to Chile with friends, where the new season is just kicking off.
After all, he did say he wasn’t leaving anything on the table this time.
