Recently in Chris Davenport Category

Man, you gotta love what Chris Davenport does...and be slightly jealous as well. Dav is somewhere off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula zipping too and from an amazing sailing vessel, the Australis in a Zodiac while he, Stian Hagen, and Andrea Binning pick off other-worldly descents.

We were gonna try to do a summary of Dav's correspondence here, but you really just need to get over to his blog and read the whole thing and check out all the amazing photos. Here's a tiny taste:

...The team departed from Paradise Harbour after Stian and I did a quick Zodiac cruise and determined there weren't really any great ski or film objectives nearby. Our destination was Anvors Bay and the north side of Ronge Island, a zone I had scoped out last season. As we approached the passage between Ronge and the mainland, a steep face began to reveal herself, and excitement on deck mounted. The closer we got the sicker it looked. Everyone's heart was racing as we made plans to climb, ski, and film the coolest looking line we have seen in Antarctica so far. We called it the Antarctic Sphinx after a similar looking and equally impressive peak in the Chugach Mountains of AK...

Go to SteepSkiing.com and bring some popcorn...

Hi Everyone, Chris Davenport here checking in from South America's funkiest ski resort, Portillo, Chile. I have been coming here for nine years in a row and am getting warmed up for the 6th annual "Ski With The Superstars" camp, which starts next Saturday. Portillo is awesome because there are only 400+ guests at the resort, so it's sort of like a private ski hill with  insane big mountain terrain... both lift served and hike-to. The king of all hike-to lines is the Super C Couloir, a 5000-foot vertical run that starts in a 50-degree tube and spits out into a 1500-foot apron of glory turns. My friend Don and I skied it yesterday and here's what it looks like: 

Super C Couloir - Chris Davenport from mavisfitzgerald on Vimeo.

I might be aging myself here, but I don't really get Twitter. I mean, as a techy kind of dude, I get it, but I don't really see why it's blowing up. I just can't imagine anyone, save my mother, would care to know what I'm doing at all hours of the day. I have enough trouble thinking of something novel to put in my Facebook status.

I can't explain how amazing a week it was. From earning turns, to watching "Swift, Silent, and Deep" and understanding the broader history of how we ski today, to making new friends through the universal language of shredding powder snow; I think C.R. Johnson summed it up best in saying, "I'm putting Powder Week on my permanent calendar."

-Read the entire article here.

*Interview by Tim Mutrie and courtesy of ESPN Freeskiing.

Don't ask Chris Davenport how the skiing is these days. Because while Davenport can tell you about Kastle skis, X Games and the recent SIA tradeshow among other things, he can't really tell you about the skiing--except maybe to pass along second-hand reports from Aspen friends trumpeting the sickness of late. But the thing is, it's not always about the skiing, not for Davenport. Today he's on a plane headed for Munich, Germany, and his torrid travel schedule of late has afforded just one ski day, yesterday at Aspen Highlands, in the last two weeks.

We caught up with Dav on the phone Friday. He was at the Denver Airport, albeit briefly, during a stopover from Vegas, where he attended the SIA tradeshow, before the brief layover at home in Aspen before heading back to Europe. Again. He was sounding hoarse. We didn't ask about the skiing. OK, we did.

It's hard to think of X Games and Aspen without thinking of the Powder Video Awards. One night a year, the industry converges on The Jerome Hotel in Aspen to share some drinks, good times, and recognize all the hard work and innovation that went into making the always impressive crop of movies for the season.

Red Bull Skiers walked away from the show last night with a slew of hardware. The night started off with Tanner Hall nabbing second place, a position he's held for a number of years, in the Reader's Poll. On the women's side, Grete Eliassen held it down with a thrid place trophy. Little guy Sean Pettit was presented the Breakthrough Performer Award by super big guy Lonnie Paxton of the New England Patriots. Finally, Simon Dumont cleanly stomped the Best Manmade Air award for his mind-blowing world record quarterpipe hit from last spring.

Why is it Australia gets to lay claim to "down under?" New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile are all chillin' (pun intended) more southerly on the map than ol' shrimp-on-the-barbie, which logically explains why they all have better skiing. And then there's Antarctica: truly the end of the earth.

Red Bull's Chris Davenport has tamed gnarly peaks all over the world, so why wouldn't he venture to skiing's last frontier? Fortunately for us, Dav is checking in on a regular basis to tell us about what has already amounted to an epic adventure: penguin sex and all. Yep, I said penguin sex.

From Dav (November 13th, 2008):

I have just managed to get a sat email uplink going so am firing this off after a tremendous day of skiing. All in all the trip has been incredible. We have skied four days already and I am absolutely blown away by the immensity and scale of this place. The beautiful combination of ocean, glaciers, and mountains makes for perhaps the must stunning environment I have ever visited (and this is my 7th and final continent). Throw a few thousand Gentoo Penguins and the odd Weddell Seal and Humpback Whale into the mix and it is even more impressive. The penguins themselves have been without a doubt one of the highlights of our trip. They are so docile and unafriad of humans, and are funny to watch swim and walk. I have captured some great videos of penguin sex (it's mating season)! Our team has skied four days already, which is a success unto itself. When our previous trip aboard the Orlova was cancelled, we weren't sure if we would be able to ski on this new boat, the Vavilov, but the Expedition Leader and his staff have been very accomodating to our overflowing desires to make turns, so everything has worked out perfectly for us. The mountains remind me quite a bit of the Alaska Range, or perhaps the Wrangalls, but with even heavier glaciation. There are ridiculous ski lines to be had everywhere you look. Today we climbed and skied a super steep couloir across from Cuverville Island near the Gerlach Straight (Google Earth it!) Jordan Manly and I have been shooting photos every day, whether we are on the boat or off, and he has put together quite an amazing collection of images from this trip. His time lapses are awesome, and his use of artificial lighting in certain scenes is super creative. Jordan himself thinks it's the most photogenic zone he has ever shot.

Listen, I know you usually get on here and click around all day long reading up on your favorite Red Bull Riders, but I'll concede that sometimes you only have a couple minutes to check in with what's new. Hey, I get busy too...slaying pow leaves little time in the day to work.

Anyway, don't forget to pop over to the Team Page for updates on the Red Bull Ski Team. Little snippets that don't always get pumped on the front page. Right now you can check out what Tanner Hall and Sean Pettit have in common, how the Red Bull Ski Team is dominating print media, and how Dav is bringing skiing to a snowless empire.

Team Page, click here.

Lots of stuff always going on over at the Team page at RedBullSkiing.com. This is the place where little things about your favorite Red Bull skiers live. Just today we got some news from the world of Simon Dumont and Tanner Hall: A raging party at Freeskier HQ and some water ramp and tramp footy you have to see to believe.

 Go check it out!

A month ago Red Bull Skiing brought you news of Chris Davenport skiing four of highest and most famous peaks in the European Alps. These days, Dav can be found in Mexico funneling margaritas, but he took some time to regale us with the amazing story of his epic feat.

Click here to to get the full story from Dav!

Equally amazing is his ski partner Stian Hagen's account.

And don't forget to check into Red Bull for more mind-boggling accounts of epic radness!