Skier Blazes Down World's Steepest Street After Rare Snow
As an Antarctic blast brought snow to New Zealand’s Dunedin, a skier ventured to Baldwin Street—certified as the world’s steepest street by Guinness—and dropped in.
One video, shared by The Guardian, shows him sliding downhill as he gathers speed. Mind you, this wasn’t a bottomless powder day. There’s only a skiff of snow between the brave skier and the asphalt.
You can also see the video here.
Turns out, this wasn’t all the skier, Connor Addis, got up to during the snow day. He posted more footage, sliding a kinked handrail. Then, his short edit, set fittingly to some Metallica, cut to the Baldwin Street bomb, offering a few more angles.
You can also see the video here.
Now, at this point, you may be asking yourself: Is that really the world’s steepest street? It was a question that came up below The Guardian’s post. In the video, Baldwin Street looks steep, sure, but not stunningly so. What about San Francisco and its famous hills?
Part of those questions likely come from the footage itself—oftentimes, ski videos can’t quite capture how daring a stunt really is. Anyone who’s used a GoPro knows this. You get home after leaping off a cliff that felt like it was two stories tall and, when you review your clip, realize that it was an overgrown mogul. Ouch.
Viewed from a different angle, though, it’s clear Baldwin Street is no joke.
GISTEL Cezary Wojtkowski/Getty Images
Guinness offered more details on how Baldwin Street earned its status as the world’s steepest street, which was reinstated in recent years.
Previously, the street held the title for more than a decade before it was handed off to Ffordd Pen Llech, in Harlech, Wales. But “representatives of Baldwin Street” eventually brought an appeal, according to Guinness.
Alongside re-appointing the record, a review of the appeal also led Guinness to decide that the best way to measure a street’s gradient was from the centerline of the street.
The new results, Guinness said, confirmed that Ffordd Pen Llech had a gradient of 28.6% while Baldwin Street was 34.8%.
The blurb even included a quote from Craig Glenday, Guinness’ editor-in-chief, showing that this was a serious matter.
“We’re very grateful to the Baldwin Street appeals team, led by surveyor Toby Stoff, for making us aware of a rare gap in our stipulations and we’re pleased to see the title return to New Zealand,” he said, in part.
Glenday said, too, that “As well as calling upon in-house expertise, we also work in collaboration with dozens of consultants, universities, federations and governing bodies across a number of subject matters to ensure that our rules are as up-to-date and as relevant as possible.”
If you think you might have a steeper street in your backyard, then it might be time to get in touch with Guinness. Visiting Dunedin and taking a walk up Baldwin Street might change your mind, though.
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