A group of Ohio State students is trying to organize the world’s biggest snowball fight, but as they await a response from Guinness World Records, the clock is ticking and the snow is starting to melt.
“I have been wondering about the snow thing, and am praying that we don’t run out before we hear back from Guinness,” said Mitch Finley, a second-year in electrical engineering.

Finley and his friend, Mike Spuzzillo, thought of the idea a few weeks ago as the first of a series of winter storms blew through Columbus.

“When we walked outside, we realized it would be really fun to have a massive snowball fight,” Finley said.

That week, the two friends set up a Facebook group to gauge students’ interest in the event. After nearly 2,500 online responses, they decided to rally their snowball-armed army and head to The Oval. “There ended up only being about 150 people there,” Finley said, “but the fact that we had so many people on the Facebook page made us realize that if we put in the effort and really tried to break a record, we could do it.”

Their next attempt, if all goes to plan, will take place before the eyes of a representative from Guinness World Records, which is headquartered in London.

Finley and Spuzzillo started the online application process at the Guinness Web site right away. But with 50,000 annual proposals from potential record-breakers, according to the site, it’s questionable whether a representative will be able to come while there’s still snow on the ground.

The application process required the students to send an official proposal explaining how they plan on breaking the record. This process can take up to four weeks. Once Guinness verifies the request, the organization sends their approval via e-mail with event guidelines.

Generally, Guinness does not charge a fee for world record attempts. But the Web site states there might be a fee if a Guinness representative has to be present during the record-breaking attempt.

The students are uncertain whether they would be required to pay.

“I’m not entirely sure of how Guinness works with these things, but I’m pretty certain that they will have to come out hours before the thing actually starts and will count every person before we get started,” Finley said.

Although the students have received no response from Guinness, Finley says he is hopeful they will hear back sometime this week. If all goes well, the world record attempt will be sometime before finals week, which begins March 15, Finley said.

Their Facebook group, “RECORD BREAKING OSU SNOWBALL FIGHT,” has nearly 6,150 members.

However, even if the Guinness representative comes in time, it will
be no small feat beating the record — 5,387 people.

“The record is held by a city in [South] Korea with a population of about 50,000, so I’m guessing we can beat that here at OSU with the right publicity,” Finley said.

The attempt to break the world record will be held on The Oval. The group has not encountered any concerns from OSU administration.

“I have not heard anything from the OSU administration, and don’t really expect to,” Finley said.