GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — An idea sparked Kyle Kelly and Brad Dykstra in August. They wanted to set a world record.
This weekend, the two Michigan men made that goal a reality. Kelly on skis, and Dykstra on snowboard, broke the record for most ski areas visited in 24 hours. They went down hills at 22 Michigan ski resorts between Saturday at noon and Sunday at noon.
"This is awesome," said Kelly when he came down his last hill, "This is so cool. Bring it home to Michigan, bring it home to the U.S."
The pair finished their marathon runs at Cannonsburg Ski Area in Belmont. A crowd of friends and family awaited them at the end.
"Kudos to them for sticking with us," said Kelly of his driver and crew, "And wasting their weekend to do this."
The previous world record for the most ski areas skied in a 24-hour period is held by Terri Moore of Canada, who skied at 17 ski resorts in Hakuba, Japan, between Feb. 8 and 9 in 2017.
"There are very few places where these guys could have done this besides Michigan," said Dave Lorenz, Vice President of Travel Michigan, "Because we have so many ski areas in the state."
The pair began their journey in Petoskey, and skied at resorts in Boyne, Midland, Gaylord, and more.
There were some bumps along the way. Some stops were only ten minutes, which meant they jumped out of the car, hopped in a ski-do and went down the hill.
"It was crazy," said Kelly of their first ski resort on the trip, "Cause he dropped the sign as we were skiing down. And he lost his phone.
Dykstra agreed, "It was a rough start."
But, by the end, they were old pros. Sparkling wine awaited them at the end of the Cannonsburg run, where they took photos with Guinness World Records signs. They began the approval process months ago, and will submit tags, video, witness testimony and more to prove their record.
"This friendship man, this man," said Kelly of Dykstra, "I couldn’t ask for a better person to do this with."
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