MANAWA, WI – A Minnesota man’s world record attempt came to a crashing halt Sunday.
Kurt Anderson walked away uninjured after his sled reached 241 miles per hour and rolled.
“The whole sequence of spinning is a couple of seconds and I came to a rest and was just thinking, oh no, this sucks,” Anderson said.
Anderson was trying to break a world record and reach speeds of 248 miles per hour as a feature event at the Manawa Snowdeo.
“I have never crashed like that, that was bad.”
He says the whole thing happened so quickly, but he remembers it clearly.
“We have not had time to review all the footage, but the back end came around, and I don’t know if it was like a wave or something, but all I know is that the rear-end came around and I could not control it.”
Justin Wavruk was able to capture video both inside the sled and with a drone during the record attempt and put together a video for Anderson.
Anderson had crews on scene to check on him right away. He came away with a sore shoulder and a renewed ambition to fix what was wrong and try it again.
“When I create the new machine, we are going to do it virtually, and come up with a better decide to account for bumpy ice or whatever it was, Anderson said. “It is a big ask for me to try to get this ready for the next Snowdeo, but I would like to comeback and go for the record.”
He says he takes comfort in knowing that he had what it took to make history, but has a new story to tell.
“There is no question, I got those speeds going sideways. If I would have kept it going straight, I would have reached the record speed.”
Anderson said after the run that safety was always his top priority and this proved that he had the correct procedures in place to stay safe while flying.
“I have to more science into the next run. I don’t think those skis were the proper choice for a lake.”
The last world record was 247.93 mph set on Feb. 1981 at Lake George, New York by the late Sammy Miller, according to Guinness World Records.
