Field Reports: Extreme skier bags Colorado’s 14ers

Former World Extreme Skiing champion Chris Davenport of Aspen, Colo., has skied off the summits of all 54 Colorado peaks 14,000 feet or higher, claiming to be the first person ever to complete the feat in less than a year.

On Jan. 19, Davenport, 36, skied from the top of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, 362 days after starting his quest.

It wasn’t known if any independent groups keep records of such attempts. Lou Dawson of Carbondale, Colo., is the only other person on record to ski all the 14ers in Colorado. Dawson did it over 13 years.

Dawson said he was “stunned and amazed” when Davenport called him to tell him he’d finished.

“This is incredibly, incredibly tough,” Dawson said. “If it were just a matter of marching up all the 14ers and skiing down, someone else would have done it by now.

“You’re dealing with so much more, though. It’s dangerous, It’s psychologically difficult. You have to know how to avoid avalanches and still get the job done. Then you’ve got the weather. Some of those peaks are only skiable for a few days a year. Davenport seems to persevere.”

Davenport drove nearly 33,000 miles across the state to accomplish his feat.

He plans a film and book.

Check it out: www.skithe14ers.com.

Associated Press

WILDLIFE

Pronghorns killed on winter highways

About 200 pronghorns and 40 elk have been struck and killed in eastern Colorado after wandering onto plowed roads and railroad tracks to escape the deep snow.

A Dec. 28 blizzard left drifts of up to 15 feet, and much of the snow is still there, making it tough on plains animals.

“In the fields, they’re chest-deep in snow,” Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Michael Seraphin said. “In an effort not to deal with the snow, they look for places that have been cleared, like roads and rail ridges.”

He said wildlife officials have been trying to lure the animals to safer places by dropping food and packing down snow.

Associated Press