Dizney Words

ZERMATT, Switzerland — At 5:30 a.m. on May 4, Chris Davenport made a quick cup of coffee before heading off to work. But this morning, his kitchen was the “winter room” of the Hornlihutte, at 10,695 feet on the northeast ridge of the Matterhorn. And the day’s work entailed climbing, then skiing the fabled peak, the iconic emblem of the Swiss Alps.

Davenport, of Aspen, Colo., made history in 2006 by climbing and skiing all of Colorado’s “14′ers” — the state’s 54 14,000-foot mountains — in one calendar year. An overachiever on the extreme-ski scene for more than a decade, he set his sights in 2008 on a different project, climbing and skiing the Alps’ four most iconic peaks: the Matterhorn, the Eiger, Mont Blanc, and Monte Rosa.

“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.”

Joining him was longtime ski partner and mountain guide Stian Hagen of Chamonix, France, and photographer Christian Pondella of Mammoth Lakes. They targeted a line on the East Face of the Matterhorn, one that would catch the early-morning sun and transform the icy snow into a carveable layer of “corn” snow only an inch or two thick, before the warm spring temperatures ruined it for good.

Steep skiing in the Alps is a game of timing. Late-spring storms deposit sticky snow on the sheer faces, but the window of opportunity is a narrow one, and both patience and luck can play a big role. Some peaks won’t be skiable for years, then can change in the matter of one weather cycle. And just as quickly, it can avalanche and be done for the year.

The trio left the hut and began to climb just as the sunrise illuminated the top of the Matterhorn like a birthday candle. Firm snow necessitated the use of crampons and ice axes, and they ascended quickly, straight up the route they would ski.

Two groups of climbers also shared the Hornlihutte, intent on summiting via the normal climbing route, up the Hornli Ridge, first climbed by the ill-fated party of Edward Whymper in 1865. They set off at 5 a.m., hoping to reach the top before the forecasted Fohn wind picked up at midday.

Also on hand was a film crew from Matchstick Productions, an adventure-sports film company that Davenport and Hagen have worked with throughout their careers. Two high-definition cameras, one cinematographer shooting super-16mm film from the helicopter, and another still photographer would chronicle the quest for Matchstick’s upcoming ski film, a television show, and several magazine articles both in Europe and North America. Sponsors like Red Bull and Helly-Hansen anted up for the heli costs in exchange for promotional placement. This was no bare-bones expedition.

The team climbed quickly, conditions ideal for a three-hour stairmaster session. The upper East Face, called “the blade,” isn’t skiable from the summit, and since Boivin’s first successful ski descent in 1980 (with numerous lengthy rappels and downclimbs), the Matterhorn has never been in condition for a clean ski attempt. Rumors in the ski mountaineer community told of a local Zermatter who had his eyes on a new route, venturing out on the high-consequence North Face before angling back to the East, but this year it would be impossible.

By 9 a.m., a cloud plume was growing over the blade, and threatened to obscure the upper snowfields. With film crews in place and the helicopter buzzing the summit, Davenport and Hagen had to make a decision. Just above the 4,000-meter perch of the emergency Solvay Bivouac, they switched from crampons to skis and began their precarious descent.

“I measured the slope angle at the top,” said Davenport, “and it was right at 52 degrees.” A lost edge would mean a high-speed slide for life on the icy slope, and the pair turned cautiously at the top. “It mellowed out to about 47 degrees further down, and stayed consistent all the way back to the Hornlihutte,” he added. Feeling more confident with the softening snow, they opened it up and arced smooth turns together down the lower face.

Most impressive was Pondella’s ability to hike — and ski — alongside the pair while lugging his camera pack. The L.A.-born lensman is recognized as one of the world’s best expedition photographers, and he clearly cherished this addition to his list of peaks. “After about halfway down, when those guys took off, I just hung out for a few minutes up there,” he said. “I looked around and had to pinch myself. I’m skiing the Matterhorn!”

“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,” he said. While ski mountaineering history in the Alps has paralleled climbing history, in North America the sport is just coming of age. He hopes that the photos and film footage will help motivate Americans to discover the potential and the rich Alpine history of the Alps.

But Davenport wants his immediate sphere of influence to be much closer to home. “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.”

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