Skiing the Matterhorn, For Starters

While most of our attention turns to sun and fun, ski mountaineer Chris Davenport only has eyes for the white stuff: He’s already started his plan to ski the signature peaks of the Alps by cruising down the Matterhorn successfully. Yes, this Matterhorn. He hopes to climb and make ski descents of what many consider to be the most iconic Alpen peaks — the Matterhorn, the Eiger, Mont Blanc, and Monte Rosa — all in one year.

“I remember as a kid, seeing footage of Jean-Marc Boivin skiing the Matterhorn, and it really affected me,” said Davenport. “And now, at this stage of my career, as a ski mountaineer, these classic peaks really speak to my pursuit of the coolest mountains in the world.”

The Aspen-based Davenport earned his fame by nailing ski descents down all of Colorado’s 14,000-ft. mountains in one year. The resultant book and documentary helped cement his rep as one of the premier extreme ski mountaineers out there.

And while the thrill and the sponsors certainly factor into his motivation to completely own crazy ski descents, he also rips for personal reasons. After his successful Matterhorn descent, he told the L.A. Times:

“It’s like a dream come true for me,” said Davenport. “People everywhere in the world know and recognize the Matterhorn, but nobody knows that you can potentially ski it. I’m just stoked to show this mountain to my kids someday, and inspire them to climb and ski these mountains that I have skied, all over the world.”

Should we expect a gaggle of mini-Davenports tearing down some insane face in the near future? I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.

— Ted Alvarez

Skiing the Matterhorn is all in a day’s work (L.A. Times)