Until Thursday, only one man had successfully skied the narrow, rock-lined chute that descends the east face of 14,018-foot Pyramid Peak.

And when local Chris Landry skied the route in 1978, he had to stop short of the chute's exit and climb over a wall of rocks before continuing down the peak's face to the valley floor below.

There wasn't any need for ropes Thursday morning when locals Chris Davenport, Neal Beidleman and Ted Mahon dropped into Landry's Route from atop Pyramid's summit.

With Davenport in the lead, the trio safely linked turns down to the spot that halted Landry 28 years ago - and had turned back dozens of skiers in subsequent attempts.

There, they found a tiny passage of snow that looked safe enough to squeeze through. After a few tight, precise turns, the trio regrouped underneath the chute's exit unscathed, before laying tracks into the untouched 2,000-foot meadow of corn snow below.

"I don't know why we were so blessed today," an elated Davenport said on the phone Thursday night. "There's been dozens of people who have attempted the same route since 1978, but no one has ever been able to do it. It's one of the greatest days of my life - a great ski mountaineering achievement."

Pyramid represents the sixth 14,000-foot peak that Davenport has skied within the past eight days and the 22nd this year on his quest to climb and ski all of the state's 54 in 2006.



In terms of difficulty, Davenport said, Pyramid might be the most dangerous.

"I would say it's one of two or three," he said. "For whatever reason, Pyramid has a fierce reputation. It's easy to access, but not a lot of people dare to even attempt it. People have skied the east face, but not from the summit. Lou Dawson tried to ski it, but he cut down the north face instead of finishing the chute. There are serious consequences if you make a mistake on it, and that keeps people away."

Davenport estimated the that first few turns into the chute were on a pitch of at least 50 degrees. One missed turn would mean a fall over a large cliff band into the east face proper. The early-morning snow was in good shape, however - soft on the northeast exposures, and slushy on the east and south exposures - which made it easier to navigate the dicey shoot, Davenport said.

Dawson, of Carbondale, is the only other man to ski all of the state's 14ers from their exact summits - a feat that took him 13 years. On his blog Thursday, Dawson noted that when he made an attempt at Landry's Route in 1989, he took several measurements with an inclinometer, which recorded parts of the chute at 60 degrees.

"It's simply an incredibly beautiful line - perhaps the most beautiful extreme skiing line in Colorado if not the entire United States," Dawson wrote.

The beauty and mystique of the line is also what leads Davenport to believe that a number of skiers will attempt the route within the next two weeks, now that it has been done.

"I'd imagine we'll see a few attempts," he said. "As soon as some people hear about it, they'll want to try it. It's sucker tracks. As soon as someone sees tracks out of bounds somewhere, they'll follow them. Hopefully they'll be careful."

After completing 22 peaks thus far, and with encouraging spring snow conditions, Davenport said he feels confident of completing his goal. A documentary film crew has been capturing his journey, and a book is also in the works.

This week, Davenport and his crew are moving into an RV to save money and time, as opposed to staying in hotels while traversing the state.

The next peak he hopes to summit is nearby 14,265-foot Castle Peak this weekend, where he plans to ski the east face.

"It's actually turned out to be more challenging than I imagined, but I feel like I'm gaining momentum," he said. "It's extremely tough physically and mentally, but every time I stand on the top of one of the peaks, I feel like I'm the luckiest guy to be doing what I'm doing. I'm gaining energy with each day. Right now, I'm ready to kick it into fifth gear and start doing one a day."

The memory of extreme skier Doug Coombs is also pushing him along, Davenport said. Coombs died last week after falling off a cliff in the French Alps. The pair skied together earlier this year in British Columbia while filming a new Hollywood production on the history of big-mountain skiing titled "The Edge of Never."

During that trip, Coombs had mentioned he might venture out to Colorado this spring to ski some of the 14ers with Davenport.

"I definitely couldn't believe it when I heard the news," Davenport said. "It was a freak accident. I've been thinking about him everyday since. He's been with me the whole time."

Nate Peterson's e-mail address is npeterson@aspentimes.com