WHIP IT GOOD: When he’s not breaking world whip records, local man Adam Winrich is busy performing his whiptastic acrobatics around the country. He even makes some of his own gear.

Did you ever watch Indiana Jones and dream of being able to grab things from afar, or swing across chasms with only the help of your trusty whip? Perhaps as a kid, but into adult life, most of us left those thoughts safely in the backs of our minds while we pursued our respective careers. Adam Winrich, however, was so enthralled that he turned his admiration into a profitable, fulfilling, and world-record setting career.

Volume One first told you about Adam in 2006, when he first started making waves in the whip world. Nearly three years later Adam’s impact has been more of a cannon ball splash as he’s appeared on national television – in several countries.

When Adam was 9, his father made him his first whip out of a piece of rope. At 11 Adam began making whips himself, using leather, wood, and techniques for braiding he learned from the boyscout’s handbook. Since then Adam has traveled the globe not only selling his whips, but performing at festivals, private shows, and conventions. He has set seven world records for feats such as the longest whip ever cracked (a whopping 216 feet), and perhaps less humongous, but arguably more awesome, the most candles extinguished in a minute with a whip, which everyone should know is 50.

The first thing you notice when you meet Adam is how he manages to make something that he takes very seriously, and is obviously incredibly skillful at, seem almost casual. When stopping out at his residence for a demonstration, Adam welcomed us and set up shop in his backyard with some soda cans and a stool to set them on. He was engaging and happy to not only talk about his profession, but to take the time to explain things in a way that made you feel like you were talking to one of your buddies, and not an internationally known Guinness world record holder.

That’s not to say he takes it lightly; watching him slice open a soda can from 12 feet away or repeatedly crack two whips in a way that sounds like a drummer with a couple of handguns is incredibly impressive and obviously difficult. (And we produced a video of it all you can check out on our website at VolumeOne.org.)

    Adam grew up in Fall Creek, just East of Eau Claire, and went to college at UWEC. “I graduated college with a math and physics degree, and had been pursuing whips and blues harmonica,” he relates, “but when I got close to graduation I really did not want to get a real job. I just didn’t want to put on a suit and interview for a job that I did not want. ... So I skipped my graduation ceremony and went to a convention for western performing arts, and got enough whip orders to be like, ‘Yes, I think I can do this.’” He was soon able to transition into mainly performing.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about whip cracking that rarely gets discussed, is the actual science of the act. Adam was recently featured on Time Warp, a show on the Discovery Channel that slows down action that genereally happens to fast for the naked eye. Using super high speed cameras, Adam was filmed doing things like whipping a flower in half out of a man’s mouth and cutting a full aluminum can in two. There is a tremendous amount of upper body strength required to handle and crack a whip properly, and the sound that you hear, that deliciously crisp snap, is actually the end of the whip breaking the sound barrier. Jet planes do this regularly, but good luck practicing with one of them in your backyard.

Winrich credits setting goals and staying focused to his success. He’s a down-to-Earth guy who has traveled from Italy and Sweden to China and Australia all on the power of his whips (a few such trips were for Guinness World Record TV shows). He is one of the best in his field anywhere in the world and he’s from right here in the Chippewa Valley.

Apart from the spectacle of what he can do, one of the most impressive things about Adam Winrich is that it he reminds you that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, greatness can occur very close to home.

    To see photos and various videos of Adam in action, visit his website at www.winrichwhips.com.

ADAM’S WORLD RECORDS:
Longest whip ever cracked:
  216 feet

Most candles extinguished in a minute with a whip:
  50 candles

Most bullwhip cracks in a minute:      
  253 cracks

Most Australian stockwhip cracks in a minute:
  272 cracks

Most whip cracks in a minute with a whip in each hand:
  420 cracks

Fastest time to hit 10 targets with a whip:
  4.85 seconds

Most full soda cans cut in half in three minutes:
  23 cans