In 2006 – 2007, within the span of one year, Aspen skiier Chris Davenport skied down ALL of Colorado’s 54 fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet). You can read all about this epic project on Chris’s website: SkiThe14ers.com.
Chris had a bunch of filmers and photographers join him for many of the climbs and descents, and they made a 42 minute movie about the quest. Unfortunately the US Forest Service won’t let him release the movie because of some technicalities about filming permits.
So, I was super excited last week to hear that Chris published a coffee table book about the project, and I bought it soon thereafter. I knew this book would not only get me pumped on the spring riding season which is pretty much upon us; but it would also provide me with some inspiration for ski photography. Indeed, the book is full of amazing ski photography by Christian Pondella and Ted Mahon, among others. It’s also got a good amount of text to read about Chris’s experiences on each mountain.
This is probably the most unique 14ers book yet published, and it’s a fine testament to Chris Davenport’s incredible year, and to Colorado backcountry skiing in general. Lou Dawson, the first person to ever ski all the 14ers (which incidentally took him 13 years), wrote the foreword for the book; and if you have any doubts about buying this book, just check out Lou’s book review.
Here’s a short teaser clip from the movie, which hopefully will be released eventually, if the Forest Service stops being such bastards about it.
Thanks, Jack, for the video link, I had not seen that. I have a lot to learn from Christian about ski photography!
That was sooo freakin’ inspiring! Thanks for the clip to spice up the the blog. I’m buyin’ the book TODAY!
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