The fabled shot ski. Let the games begin. Photo: Amazon
The Giants and the Dodgers, Yankees, Sox. Ohio State versus Michigan. The Lakers and the Celtics. Park City, Utah and Breckenridge, Colorado. That’s just a handful of the greatest rivalries in America. The difference between the first four and the last one, however, is that they all face off in actual sanctioned and official competitions, while the two ski towns compete (unofficially) in throwing back shots of vodka and whiskey and claiming whose party was the biggest.I’m talking, of course, about the annual back and forth between Park City and Breckenridge for organizing the world record shot skis, which will kick off this season on October 11 in Park City.
Last year, Park City set a new record with 1,385 participants in their shot ski attempt, only to be one-upped by Breck with 1,401 people throwing ’em back in unison from a 2,477-foot-long ski. Their rivalry has gotten so much attention in previous years that the Canadians threw their beanies in the pile and claimed to beat them both with 1,406 people linking 506 skis. At the same time, a small Maine resort got into the fun and organized its own attempt.
Now, here’s the funny thing about the world record: there’s no official world record. After seeing all the announcements and claims the past two years I dug into the subject and learned that Guinness doesn’t keep a record for the world’s longest shot ski. There’s no official from their organization who monitors the event, no structure or guidelines for what constitutes a successful attempt, and so on. So whoever gets them out to an event and convinces the organization to list their first attempt will actually become the world record holder. Until then, it’s a fun tradition between dueling towns.
Next week’s attempt will go down on Main Street in Park City, with the local the Sunrise Rotary aiming to raise $70,000 to support local nonprofits.
