Black Diamond for everything climbing and skiing.    Dynafit -- Speed Up!    Tracker beacons, Stash packs, shovels, more more more.    Terrific deals on randonnee AT rando backcountry skiing gear.    K2 has the skis that stay true to earning your turns.    Garmont boots -- excellent choice for backcountry skiing.

Congratulations Jordan White — Skiing 54 Colorado 14ers!

Bookmark and Share            By Lou
Backcountry skiing 14,000 foot peaks.

Ski the Fourteeners

Only a few people have done it. Jordan White of Carbondale, Colorado is the latest of a handful of ski mountaineers to climb and ski back down all 54 of the Colorado 14,000 foot peaks.

This is a big, hard project. Tougher than most people realize. Jordan did it in three years, beginning with his ski of Quandary Peak on May 4th 2006, finishing with Snowmass Mountain this past May 3rd, 2009. During his quest Jordan did a number of stunning enchainments and day-after-day combos that will be hard to match. I was delighted and amazed at some of the stuff he pulled off, such as skiing Captiol Peak, both Maroons and Pyramid Peak in just several days.

Backcountry Skiing

Jordan White on the summit of El Diente Peak in 2007.


10 Questions for Jordan White:

Which are the easiest?
“Quandary, Sherman anything in the Mosquitos.”

The hardest?
“I don’t think you can look anywhere but Capitol. Hard mentally, hard skiing, the climbing is pretty much unmatched.”

What was your biggest day?
“Monday the 27th this past April, we did all three of the Wilson group (though my actual list descent of El Diente was probably when I was with you and Louie in 2007.) Last one at sunset.”

How many different partners did it take?
“More than twenty. The most consistent: Frank Konsella, Joe Brannan.”

How many different cars did you go through?
“Only three. With 17,000 miles on the “new” Tacoma since this past September…”

Anyone say you couldn’t do it?
“People were concerned about my ski abilities, but I worked at it and left some of the harder ones till last. Skiing at Highlands all winter helped, as did hanging out with some ex racers.”

What’s your favorite piece of gear?
“Probably AT bindings. I booted the whole Cristo Couloir on Quandary with an alpine rig on my back. Nice to get past that!”

What gear failed?
“What gear didn’t fail?”

What’s next?
“NO MORE LISTS!
I’ve got thousands of pictures from the top of 14ers that look WAY better than stuff I was about to drop into. Time to savor the Elk Mountains and beyond.”

Who do you dedicate your fourteener accomplishment to?
“My dad, who would never have wanted to ski ‘em all, but what mountaineering motivation and aptitude I’ve got I was give by my dad since that day at five years old when he first took me on a climb. The only reason I’m 23 years old and am the fifth person to do this is because of the early start he gave me.”

Read the details on Jordan’s Blog.

Posted by Lou on May 5, 2009 | Filed Under Fourteeners 

previous post: Another EU TR — Grieskogel from Sellraintal
next post: Widebody Ski Crampons — Jonathan Gives His All

Comments

9 Responses to “Congratulations Jordan White — Skiing 54 Colorado 14ers!”

  1. Mark Worley May 5th, 2009 8:56 am

    Very nice work you’ve done Jordan. Glad to see it.

  2. justin May 5th, 2009 2:43 pm

    That is damn impressive! Congrats to him. And three 14′ers in one day?? WOW.

  3. ScottP May 5th, 2009 5:57 pm

    As a 25 year old, I suddenly feel very behind the curve. Well done!

  4. Hans May 5th, 2009 7:06 pm

    Nice work man! Congratulations! I feel honored to have had you sprint past me on La Plata while I was having my own alpine boot revelation!

  5. Colin May 6th, 2009 2:48 am

    Ditto ScottP. I didn’t know Jordan was 23. Damn.

  6. Lou May 6th, 2009 5:39 am

    Indeed, our sport has progressed farther and quicker than I ever imagined! The question now, is what’s next in terms of list type goals? Ski them all twice? Ski the 100 highest? Or like Davenport, work on skiing all the 14ers in the continental U.S., or perhaps include Alaska in that?

  7. Jordan May 6th, 2009 10:11 am

    Thanks for your comments. I thought for a while of completing the top 100 list skiing them, but that would be a list! No more lists!

  8. Andy White May 18th, 2009 12:05 pm

    Congratulations Jordan! I really would like to buy a copy of the picture of you starting down Capitol that was in the Aspen Times Weekly May 17, 2009. Do I contact you or the photographer Joseph Brannan.
    Thank you for your help. Andy White

  9. Rob May 18th, 2009 1:35 pm

    More congrats are in order. Word is that Jordan’s partner on Capitol, Joe Brannan, finished with “summitt ski” of Wetterhorn over the weekend.

Got something to say?





Anti-Spam Quiz:

:alien: :angel: :angry: :blink: :blush: :cheerful: :cool: :cwy: :devil: :dizzy: :ermm: :face: :getlost: :biggrin: :happy: :heart: :kissing: :lol: :ninja: :pinch: :pouty: :sad: :shocked: :sick: :sideways: :silly: :sleeping: :smile: :tongue: :unsure: :w00t: :wassat: :whistle: :wink: :wub:

Due to comment spam we moderate most comments. Please do not submit your comment twice -- it will appear shortly after we approve it. Once you've had one comment published, your comments will be pre-approved and appear immediately if you're using the same computer and not blocking browser cookies. NOTE however that ALL comments with one or more links in the text will be held for moderation no matter what, again for spam prevention.
Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

All material on this website is copyrighted. Permission required for reproduction, electronic or otherwise. That includes publication and display on other websites by whatever means. PLEASE SEE OUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION.

Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of randone, randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions or templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items for backcountry skiing or any other use.