Downhill for 1,000 Days

Filed in archive Winter Adventures on September 3, 2006

Going downhill daily for 1,000 days might sound depressing, unless you're Rainer Hertrich and you've set the Guinness Book of World Records for consecutive days of skiing.

Hertrich broke 1,000 on Oregon's Timberline Ski area July 27. He has shattered the previous record of 365 consecutive days (passing that mark in 2004), but shows no sign of slowing down.




Hertrich started his quest on Nov. 1, 2003. Over the years, he's kept his streak alive by globe-hopping, shushing Oregon and Colorado while it's winter up North and heading far enough South in the summer to catch the winter snows of Chile and Argentina.

While whipping the consecutive record into submission, Hertrich has set another world record; Vertical Feet Skied: 34 million. This equals an average of 33,000 vertical feet per day. In comparison, Mount Everest is a mere 29,000 feet high. Hertrich logs his vertical elevation with a sophisticated altimeter watch.

Hertrich loves the cold outdoors and the snowy slopes - he'd have to, but it hasn't all been smooth skiing, he's had to strap on the boards daily despite brutally bitter cold, frostbite, rain and illness.