Headed to Aspen at 2:45 am to attempt the Guinness World Record for Most Hugs in 24 hours. I went down with two witnesses, Chris and Mike. We hit Aspen around 6:45 am.

We initially met with a bit of resistance as no one wanted to approve something that wasn’t organized by X Games and ESPN. We were twice given the wrong number for a marketing contact, but was able to track him down through his company in New York and send an email. The response was ‘It’s a free event to the public,’ which we took to mean we could go ahead with hugfest.

The day was beautiful with sunny skies and lots of smiles and hugs. Although I didn’t break the record (I ended up with 2,352 hugs instead of 5,001), I had one of the most amazing days of my life. I was hugged by young people, old people, teenagers and little kids. I couldn’t believe how open and generous everyone was.

I will definitely being trying again in the future and hopefully back in Aspen. I can’t think of a better place to be!