​Oldest person to grind a ski rail (male)
Who
David Schaut
What
65:231 year(s):day(s)
Where
United States (Beaver Creek)
When

The oldest person to grind a ski rail (male) is David Schaut (UK, b. 12 June 1956), who is 65 years 231 days old, as verified in Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA, on 28 January 2022.


David was inspired to attempt this record by an employee at the Beaver Creek resort who saw him grinding rails and noted he had not seen someone do that at David’s age. He trained for 4-5 weeks in preparation for the attempt, grinding the rail an estimated 700+ times until he could consistently cross it. On the day, he managed to achieve the record on his first attempt!

He hopes to add more records to his collection in future. On the prospect of becoming a Guinness World Records title holder, David said: "It would mean a lot. First, it is a significant accomplishment. Second, it would allow me to inspire other older people to get in shape and get out there and do extreme sports. I will count it as one of the great successes in my life--along with college graduation and graduate school graduation.

To do this test on this rail could not have been done simply by anyone who rarely goes into the terrain park. It could only be done by someone my age after years of preparation and practice. I started doing freestyle skiing in terrain parks 15 years ago, when I was 50. It took several years of practice before I could grind a short rail, and more time to grind longer rails. I'd never been on a rail this long before. Without those years of practice leading up to this attempt, I never would have been able to do it. So, the record acknowledges and recognizes the years and years of practice it takes for someone my age--or even a younger person--to be able to balance on such a long rail on skis."