Going for the record

By RICHARD HANNERS

Whitefish Pilot

Two Whitefish High School students shot for a world speed record on Saturday, racing down Big Ravine on skinny skis with flimsy racing shoes.

Reaching highway speeds on Nordic racing gear was "gnarly," said Erik Anderson, who was clocked at 62 mph.

Nordic skis don't have metal edges, and Big Ravine at 8 a.m. on Saturday was bulletproof.

"Stopping was a huge problem," Anderson said.

That's putting it mildly — Anderson broke a ski in half on his last run. His partner, Ian Mallams, who was clocked at 57 mph, broke his pole in four places when he crashed.

Montana Highway Patrol officer Martin Shrock used a handheld radar gun to measure the two racers' speeds, while fellow high school student Marshall Opel caught the action on a video camera and Anderson's father, Todd, watched from the bottom.

Anderson said he and Mallams hadn't originally intended to go for a world record. They'd seen U.S. Olympic skier Andy Newell on video racing down a hill at 53 mph and thought that was something they'd like to do, too.

"Things kind of escalated from there," Anderson said.

The two sent an application to Guinness World Records about a week earlier and made arrangements to meet all the requirements for a world record.

"They wanted two witnesses, and one had to have standing in the local community," Anderson said.

Wearing helmets and racing suits, Anderson, a junior, and Mallams, a senior, skated about halfway up Big Ravine and made several high-speed runs.

Anderson has used his skinny skis in other unusual ways — including doing stunts at the Big Mountain Terrain Park. Back in December, he crashed while landing on a rail.

"The doctors said I had short-term memory loss," he said.

Anderson recovered in time to join Mallams at the Senior Nationals cross-country ski races on Jan. 1-7 in Houghton, Mich.

Both went on to represent the U.S. in the Scandinavian Cup races held in Sweden on Feb. 2-4.