Kurt Steiner (stone skipper)

Steiner is widely regarded as the greatest American stone skipper, particularly after the death of his chief rival, Russell Byers. In 2013, Steiner set the current Guinness World Record with 88 consecutive skips at Red Bridge in the Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania. He also was the record holder for stone skipping from 2002 to 2007 with a throw of 40 skips, achieved in competition in Franklin, PA. He and Byers largely traded US national wins during this period, and Steiner credits much of his world-record throws to the heavy competition with Byers driving him. Steiner has also competed internationally, though European records are determined by distance not by the number of skips.

Steiner entered his first competition in 2001 around the age of 35. He spends hours sourcing and sorting thousands of his own rocks, mainly from Lake Erie. He focuses on both strengthening exercises like squats, as well as maintaining a low body fat percentage, in order to improve his skipping. He lives today in a self-built cabin and lives a frugal, minimalist lifestyle.

Kurt Steiner (born 1965) is an American man who holds the Guinness World Record for stone skipping. Known as "The Mountain Man", Steiner resides in rural Cameron County, Pennsylvania.

Kurt Steiner was born in 1965 to Karl and Nancy Steiner, and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania with his sister Erika. As a child, Steiner struggled socially but showed an early intelligence and natural apititude for competition. He excelled at sports, computing, and games such as chess, pinball and arcade games like Asteroids. He enrolled as an English major at Penn State Behrend in 1985. He picked up stone skipping as a child and continued it as a part of many hiking and backpacking trips in the Pennsylvania woods.