Freeskier Simon Dumont Airs 35 Feet Above World's
Tallest Quarterpipe at His Home Resort of
Sunday River, Maine
Photos and text on this page courtesy of
Red Bull
BETHEL, ME - Skiing prodigy and X Games star Simon Dumont accomplished the
unthinkable April 11, 2008, establishing a new world record for highest air
on a quarterpipe as he launched 35 feet into thin air at his home resort of
Sunday River in Maine. On the world's tallest quarterpipe (38-feet tall
and 78-feet wide) custom-built by Snow Park Technologies, and with a
representative from FIS appointed by
Guinness Book of World Records on location to document the record-breaking
moment, Dumont beat previous record holder Terje Haakonsen's 32 feet 6
inches during his last day of attempts. Soaring a breathtaking 73 feet above
the ground -- more than a seven-story building -- this hometown hero sent
the intimate crowd of family and friends into a frenzy as they witnessed the
record-breaking moment.
"I wasn't sure how this would all go down today with the wind and some
healing injuries I've been nursing," says Dumont. "As I was dropping down
the hill into the run-in it just hit me that this would be it -- the rest is
history."
Making the attempt had been on Simon's mind for several years, but once
snowboard legend Terje Haakonsen set the record in 2007 going 32 feet 6
inches high with a backside 360 at The Arctic Challenge in Oslo, Norway,
Dumont knew he wanted to be the first to break it. So in 2008, Dumont turned
to Red Bull and Sunday River to bring the project to life.
Although Snow Park Technologies has built countless quarterpipes over the
years, this was the first developed specifically for both a single athlete
and the Guinness Book. "Building a quarterpipe for just one athlete exactly
the way he wants it is unique for us," says SPT's Corley Howard. "I'm super
excited to be a part of this project ... after seeing Simon get huge airs in
the halfpipe at the X Games, we were hoping he'd go for the record." After
two days of framing the quarterpipe with a snowcat, and three days of
precisely hand shaping the 38-foot wall from the top down, Howard along with
fellow SPT builder Jeremy Carpenter had done all they could do. It was time
for Simon to get to work.
The project began Tuesday morning when Dumont arrived on site directly off a
flight from Sweden. Dumont began hitting the quarterpipe in the early
afternoon when he reached heights as high as 28 feet, before drifting in the
air and falling nearly 66 feet onto the snow below. Dumont's hard hitting
landing caused him to bruise his heel and aggravate an existing knee injury.
After seeing the doctor, Simon returned to the hill on Wednesday, but was
plagued by his injuries and was forced to recuperate for the rest of the
day. Thursday was disrupted by high winds forcing the entire staff to delay
their flights in order to provide Simon with one more opportunity to attempt
the World Record. At 9 a.m. Friday morning Simon showed up with his game
face on and was ready for his final attempts. After an hour of repeatedly
hitting the quarterpipe, at 10:12 a.m. EDT Dumont hiked an additional 15
feet up the hill to gain more speed. Simon crouched into a tucked position
going 55 mph down the in-run and not only launched 35 feet into the air, but
spun a 900 in the process (a trick where the athlete spins 2.5 complete
rotations in the air).
And what better place to carry out this history-making moment than Sunday
River, New England's premier ski destination located in the Mahoosuc
Mountains of western Maine, where it all began for Dumont. "Simon grew up
here in the town of Bethel shredding the slopes at Sunday River so we were
thrilled to help him bust the record," says Alex Kaufman, Communications
Manager for Sunday River. Marketing Manager Nick Lambert continues, "Sunday
River is best known for our snowmaking and for the large amount of ski
terrain we have to offer, both of which helped make the resort the right
location for this event." As far as this quarterpipe being the tallest
freestyle feature ever built in the world, here at Sunday River, Kaufman
comments, "We're all about putting the snow we make all year to good use in
the spring. Simon going for a world record at
Sunday River was pretty
darn good use!"
April 11, 2008