Skier Sets World Record Riding 101 Separate Lifts In A Day
Oliver Kern, a serial world record breaking skier, has set a new world record for skiing 101 separate lifts in a day.
Oliver Kern, a serial world record breaking skier, has set a new world record for skiing 101 separate lifts in a day.
Kern set his record at Sweden’s Sälen resort, one of the few on the planet with enough lifts in reasonable proximity to be able to achieve the feat less than a fortnight after the previous record for the number of lifts skied in a day had been broken at Austria’s Kitzbuhel and Skiwelt areas, with 80- lifts skied breaking a record Kern had held for 16 years previously of 70 lifts in a day.
The passionate skier and founder of the world's largest test portal for ski resorts Skiresort.info began his latest record attempt at 7.30 am on Tuesday 11th February 2025 in the Stöten ski area of Sälen, taking advantage of its early bird opening.
In the first hour, the 9 open lifts were mastered without any problems. Then it was off by car to the Hundfjället ski area, another sub-area of SkiStar Sälen, just 20 kilometers (13 miles) away. The lifts there opened at 9.00 a.m. and the challenge continued with 20 different ski lifts used.
At 11.00 a.m., the two connecting lifts pulled Kern into the Tandådalen ski area and another 22 ski lifts were added to the list. At around 1 p.m., Kern was pulled to the car park by the östra transport lift, where the car was already waiting and it was off to Högfjället, 5 kilometres (3 miles) away, within 6 minutes. 12 other lifts were used in Högfjellet. A three-seater chairlift and a t-bar lift took Oliver to the Lindvallen (SkiStar) section of the ski area.
In Lindvallen another 29 lifts were mastered in record time and unfortunately there was no stop at the world's only McDonald's ski-in, as time was running out.
In fact there was no time for any break during the 11-hour ski day and it was only possible to eat and drink on the lifts. At 5.30 p.m Kern went to the Kläppen ski area another 19 kilometres (12 miles) away. Here Kern skied the remaining 9 ski lifts. The 10-passenger Gondol Sälen gondola lift from Doppelmayr took Oliver via a middle station to the summit, where the official world record certificate was handed over after 101 different ski lift rides.
The 101 lifts is the latest of seven skiing world records Kern has achieved since 2007 including skiing three ski resorts on two continents on 1 day. By the end of the 2024/25 season he also expects to have skied in 1000 different ski resorts in 35 countries on 6 continents. He will also set a record with over 8400 ski lifts and cable cars travelled. He has also collected over 25,000 ski passes.