A few weeks ago, I helped set up a Guinness World Record, alongside 1,566 others! The record was for “The most people hiking simultaneously”. We broke the previous record of 815 hikers set in Kurdistan, Iraq. Given how outdoor-mad the people of Vancouver are, it felt right to see the record now belong here.
Last month, as I was recovering from a personal setback, my friend Ram told me about a Guinness World Record attempt nearby and I was hooked. In addition to the thrill of being part of a record attempt, I thought, it would be a good distraction for me from what I was going through. So I agreed to join my good friends Ram, Akshaya, and Divu.
The record attempt was organized by Kathmandu Outdoor, a New Zealand based outdoor gear company which was launching in Canada. It took place at Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver. On the day, our group of friends drove over to Cypress, all pumped up to be a part of a world record. We had to wait for an hour and a half before the actual hike started. Meanwhile, the crowd swelled. In true Vancouver spirit, it looked like the record would not only be beaten but smashed!
Finally, at around 11am, the hike started. The organizers had given every hiker a band of a specific color with which they grouped people. When the hike began, they started letting in people by color; Red, pink, yellow, and so on. This was to, we assumed, control the crowd. Soon our color was announced and we joined the group and started our hike. The hike itself was nothing much to write about. It was a hot day and pretty soon we were drenched in sweat. After 3 hours, we finally reached the end point at the top where we were greeted by the organizers who congratulated us on completing the hike and for setting the record.
There were already many people at the top who were taking pics or just resting. There was a small snack cabin from where people were buying ice creams, drinks, etc. We spent some time here before we headed back. We decided to take the chairlift to go back, which in hindsight was not a good decision. It was so crowded we had to wait a couple of hours in line before we could board it.
Divu, who had slowed down earlier and stopped at the first chairlift point (There were two sections) greeted us at the bottom and brought us up to speed on the confirmation of the record. There was an official present from the Guinness World Records and she announced that the record was officially set. (The criteria mentioned in the registration page was that all hikers should be walking simultaneously for a minimum of 10 minutes.)
Excited and happy with our world record, we drove to the nearest Popeyes and celebrated our record by a hearty lunch!