The annual winter carnival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was nothing short of explosive this weekend — literally — thanks to a local company, Steamboat Fireworks, which on Saturday broke the Guinness World Record for the biggest aerial firework ever launched.
The massive firework shell weighed in at nearly 28,000 pounds, was more than 5 feet in diameter. The firework launched from a 26-foot tube buried in Colorado’s Emerald Mountain at a speed of 300 miles per hour, CNN reports.
A YouTube video shows the extreme height the firework reached before exploding at 2,200 feet, KGO reports.
Steamboat Fireworks tried to break this record — previously held by a firework launched at a Dubai New Year’s celebration — at last year’s winter carnival, according to Gizmodo. But that firework exploded in the ground before it could successfully launch.
The team at Steamboat Fireworks, lead by Tim Borden, has been working on successfully building and launching the world’s biggest aerial firework for seven years, KGO reports.
Borden and his team spent hundreds of hours working on this year’s winning firework, and hope to continue working together, CNN reports
This USA Today video shows the firework being carried by a crane and signed by the Steamboat Fireworks team, including Borden, before it is lowered into the ground, as well as the massive explosion from a variety of close angles.