"… among the most dangerous things I've done."

The beginning of 2006 saw freeskier Chris Davenport take on his most ambitious project to date, which involved climbing every one of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks and then skiing down their partially unexploited and highly avalanche-prone slopes within the space of a year. He already has 45 peaks under his belt and is aiming to conquer the remaining nine by January 21. In part two of our interview, the 36-year-old talks about the risks and high points of his high alpine challenge.

How does the danger level for the fourteeners project rank among the other things you’ve done?

I think this ranks right up there among the most dangerous things I’ve done, because Colorado has got among the worst avalanche danger in the country, if not the world. I’m putting pressure on myself to ski these peaks in a given time period, so I can’t pick and choose my conditions. I have to accept a little more risk, which is why I have to be focused and disciplined in my approach to it.

What’s been the hardest summit so far?

The hardest summit was Capitol Peak. It’s ironic, because the trailhead is only five miles from my house. It’s one of the hardest peaks in the state to climb, even in summer. It’s only been skied once before from the summit, and that was down the ascent route – nobody has ever looked on any other side of the mountain. My partner Neil and I did the first descent down the East face, basically putting down one of the hardest lines ever skied in North America in doing so.

Tell us about the photo book and film that go along with the project.

We’re doing a coffee-table-style book, which will be the first of its kind about the fourteeners; no one has documented all these peaks in their winter condition, from a skier’s perspective.

How frustrating was it to finish the season with only nine peaks left?

It was really frustrating, but at the same time I was always very realistic about pulling it off. I knew if it was a really good snow year, I’d have no problem pulling it off, and I thought if it were an average snow year, there’d be about a 50/50 chance of doing it. I’m still realistic, and I’ll finish them as soon as I can finish them.

Are you more interested in projects like this than doing the competition circuit?

I feel like I achieved all my goals, won all the things I wanted to win, and satisfied my desire to compete. I wanted to start focusing on things that weren’t judged and weren’t competitive, but based more on more personal goals, where you have to work hard and dig deep within yourself to find the strength to pull it off.

You seem to continually pick varied and challenging projects. What factors do you think about when choosing how to spend your time?