Tech Breaks Three World Records

In a flurry of snow and laughter, Michigan Tech made history on Sherman Field this Winter Carnival. Attempts to break the world records for largest snowball, largest snowball fight, and most simultaneous snow angels were made under clear, blue skies with the help of more than 3,000 enthusiastic participants.

Since the idea was born last summer until fruition on February 10, ambitious students worked to make the Keweenaw the snow capital of the world.

When an MTU Board of Control member saw a story about a new world record for snow angels in Bismarck, North Dakota, he passed it along. The story finally reached Assistant Director of Student Life Travis Pierce who brought the idea of breaking the record to the Wadsworth Hall Student Association—a dynamic group that had already won awards on campus and was ready for something bigger, say, worldwide?

Students' research revealed additional snowy records to be broken—hence the "snow capital of the world" idea. They found records for the largest snowball and the largest snowball fight to be particularly intriguing, and so work began.

Students submitted the registration paperwork to Guinness World Records in September, but the hard work began in December when they sought to convince local schools and businesses to lend their support.

Crunching the numbers

To make their world-record dreams come true, the students needed at least 3,100 people to participate. In a town of 7,000, that is a pretty ambitious participation rate, but organizers Paul Judge, president of the Wadsworth Hall Student Association, and Robert Niffenegger, vice president, were optimistic.

They enlisted other Wadsworth Hall Student Association members and the Blue Key Honor Society to help them. Judge elaborated, "We split the work and put analytically minded people on logistics and flamboyant people on public relations."

The analytical people performed many calculations. The students had to figure out where the snowball would be rolled, how long it would take, and how to overcome the dry snow. They also had to find enough room to make the snow angels. They figured thirty-six square feet per person, estimating the average person at six feet tall. They chose the football field as the site.

Students actually conducted motion studies to determine the most efficient means of recording attendance. After calculating how long it would take each person to sign out, they then figured out how many tables were needed at each exit and how to most effectively arrange them. (It turns out they had figured things just about right for the north end zone where the adults exited. The schoolchildren seemed to take a little longer than anticipated to sign their names.)

In order to enlist the help of local schoolchildren, Pierce, Niffenegger, Judge, and Vice President for Student Affairs Les Cook met with area school superintendents and principals to dispel safety concerns surrounding the snowball fight. "We told them how the powder snow was really an advantage—it disintegrates as it travels and won't hurt anyone," said Judge.

The key to their success, however, was their detailed timeline for what the children would be doing—and the fact that they wouldn't be permitted to throw snowballs at each other. Instead, fearless Tech students would be targets in a no-man's-land between the two teams of children.

The world-record attempts, however, started hours before anyone arrived on the field.

Action on Sherman Field

The first event, the world's largest snowball, began first thing in the morning. The Houghton Fire Department wet down the field, and a crew of about twenty rolled the snowball, which looks like a winner. The results won't be official for a few weeks, but the previous record was 5.33 feet in diameter, and this one was 6.77 feet. Calculated twice—once electronically with a Trimble GX 3D Scanner and once with traditional surveying equipment—the results came out within .06 inches of each other.

The snowball fight was the second event, drawing not only Michigan Tech students but also residents from across the Keweenaw Peninsula. Families with babies, people in their eighties, and busloads of schoolchildren, all came together to make history.

After all of their persuasion, organizers expected eighteen school buses. They planned for twenty-six (only because they intended to use the letters of the alphabet to help students find their way back to the right bus and thought they might as well use all the letters, just in case). Twenty-nine buses showed up.

The participation of the schoolchildren incited a tongue-in-cheek media rivalry with the snow-angel record holders in Bismarck, North Dakota. Bismarck Tribune writer Virginia Grantier referred to a "pool of tiny helpless schoolchildren" in her February 8 article, and Judge had a half-serious retort for her: "The education is so fine in Michigan, we can afford to do things like this. They've already covered the material necessary."

(The Keweenaw might have Grantier to thank for the record-breaking attendance, as some Tech students claimed the North Dakota challenge as the final impetus to get to the field.)

Starting at noon, students and community members came streaming into the north end zone of the field, while the hundreds of children, permission slips in hand, filed in from the south. Each person received a numbered souvenir bib, and video cameras captured each face.

Aside from the schoolchildren, the crowd self-selected teams by heading for the east and west sides of the field, then listened for instructions from the press box. While waiting, they watched the scoreboard for a running estimate of how many people were on the field.

When the starting buzzer went off, Lt. Governor John Cherry and Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz threw the ceremonial first snowballs, and they were soon hidden by a flurry of white. It was a clear and sunny day, but there was a localized blizzard over Sherman Field for the two-minute fight.

When the buzzer ended the snowball fight, participants were instructed to stake out a snow angel space. An aerial photographer documented the event from above. Prone with their numbered bibs to the sky, participants had to flap their limbs for longer than usual to ensure there were enough people working on angels simultaneously.

Finally, with tired wings, the angel makers cheered for the concluding call, knowing that they had been a part of history.

As they signed their names and exited under the close scrutiny of cameras, they enjoyed hot chocolate and chili provided by Michigan Tech's Dining Services and served by the Keweenaw chapter of the Alumni Association.

Lt. Governor Cherry summed up the day well: "This was a fantastic event. It was amazing to watch and to participate. And to get three records in one day should be a record in itself."

Maybe it will be.

       © 2006, Michigan Tech Magazine

       Michigan Tech Magazine | Spring 2006 | http://www.mtu.edu/alumni