65-year-old skier grinds to Guinness World Record

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A 65-year-old Colorado skier is now a Guinness World Record-holder after becoming the oldest person to grind a ski rail.

Dave Schaut of Avon said an employee at the Beaver Creek ski resort inspired him to pursue a Guinness World Record title after seeing him grind a rail on his skis.

Schaut said Guinness did not yet have a category for oldest skier to grind a rail, but the organization agreed to create a new record for him.

"No one had the record before me. I was the first in the category, so Guinness World Records created the category for me," Schaut told the Vail Daily.

He said Guinness officials came up with some guidelines for his attempt.

"The minimum rail length required was five meters, or 16.4 feet long -- longer than I was used to. Also, the rail couldn't be wider than 12 inches. At first, it was hard to find a suitable rail, until Beaver Creek put up a 25-footer, or a rail 7.5 meters in their park. I decided to use that rail to satisfy the record, even though it was 8 feet longer than necessary," Schaut said.

Schaut said he practiced for about two months and succeeded in his first official attempt.