Industry News
Benjamin Alexander, the first Jamaican Olympic Alpine skier, has reportedly conquered Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in an extraordinary display of endurance and determination, tallying an impressive 122,820 vertical feet skied in a single day. While some tracking applications may have registered figures of over 135,000 feet, Alexander relied on a meticulous manual calculation based on the resort’s lift infrastructure and vertical rises to arrive at the official count.
According to Alexander’s detailed log, his remarkable day on the slopes included riding 71 chairlifts: Four Apres-Vous chairlifts, 66 Teton chairlifts, and one journey on the Bridger Gondola, smashing the previous record of 69 Teton chairs. This calculated method, eschewing the potential inaccuracies of GPS-based tracking, provides a definitive measure of his accomplishment. Benjamin Alexander made history as Jamaica’s first Olympic Alpine skier, competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Reflecting on his achievement, Alexander suggests that even greater heights might be within reach under optimal conditions. A journalist observing his data noted his speculation that on an exceptionally cold day, with no lift lines and perfectly icy conditions sustained throughout the day, an additional ascent on the Teton lift could potentially be added to the total. Benjamin adds this accolade to his 2019, and still current, record of 48 chairlifts at Revelstoke, Canada. This vertical tally set in 7.5 hours falls just 15,000 feet shy of the twelve-hour Guinness Book of records tally set last week by Rob Bernhoft in Washington. Benjamin stipulates that if the chairs opened one hour earlier, he could have surpassed Bernhoft’s total.
Alexander’s ambitious pursuit was made possible thanks to the generous support of his sponsors: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Atomic, Leki, and Stio. He extends a special note of gratitude to Lenz, whose heated socks proved indispensable to his success, allowing him to endure the demanding conditions from first chair to last.
