Seven winners of the “Ski with a Peak Pro” Sweepstakes walked up to the slopes of Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado, on Thursday with smiles on their faces as pro-skier, ski-mountaineer and Peak Ski Co. athlete Chris Davenport greeted them.

“What a day it was skiing with Dav,” Katie Bristow with Black Tie Ski Rental, a co-host with Peak Ski Co. of the event, said. “The weather was on point — in the high 40s — and not a cloud in the sky. It was one of those days where you could easily get away skiing sans googles; just sunglasses, spring layers & you’re good to go.”

People arrived around 10:45 a.m. to the base of Beaver Creek at Powder 8 where the Black Tie Vail/Beaver Creek team was ready with an assortment of Peak skis. 

“Once we had a handful of people geared up – Dav (Davenport) was ready to take our first lap,” Bristow said.

Davenport is an accomplished ski-mountaineer, the 1996 World Extreme Skiing champion and first skier to ski from the summit of all Colorado’s 14ers in one calendar year.

Typical ski-related discussions began immediately, as most avid skiers do, upon jumping onto the group’s first chairs. However, they mostly discussed where to ski first, based on the spring conditions, while giving colder parts of the mountain time to soften in the sun.

Bristow said the skiers came from several locations across Colorado, including Steamboat, Aspen and Colorado Springs. One guest even flew in from Chicago, but for most of the skiers Beaver Creek was their home mountain.

“The group was well matched with ability levels ranging from aggressive to expert,” Bristow said. “We skied just shy of 17,000 vertical (feet) in 2.5 hours from 11-1:30. No doubt we would have cleared 20k in vert, but for several breaks we took where we mingled, discussed where to ski next and took in the moment.”

As April rolls along, Beaver Creek can become rather empty too, as was the case with the group on Thursday.

“It felt like we had the mountain all to ourselves,” Bristow said.

Since the mountain was rather empty some of the group headed back up Birds of Prey chairlift for another run while others went to the base to to reconnect with the Black Tie team, who provided more Peak demo options to try.

At one point during the day, the group learned that several skiers went to the same school — Holderness School in New Hampshire — including Bristow’s husband Adam as well as Davenport. In the spirit of crazy ski culture things to do, a Holderness-led ski run session was done from the top of Centennial trail, down, then right back up and down into Rose Bowl.

“Let’s do it again,” Davenport said. So they did, and wound up at the top of Centennial for a cruise down Latigo.

But like all good things, they must come to an end.

Around 1:30 p.m., the group headed down to the base area, skiing to the C-Bar patio and shared pizzas, nachos and a classic après scene Beaver Creek is known for.

One skier said of Davenport: “you are the nicest guy in the ski industry,” and “this has been the best year of skiing for me,” after discussing the decision to ski Peaks (skis) this season.

Peak Ski skis lend skiers at any ability level the “extra confidence needed to level-up their skiing” — referring to the new key hole technology — and they can handle any terrain, any conditions and undoubtedly will elevate performance and confidence, Bristow said.

“The fact that they are still in their infancy, and they are this good is outstanding,” she said of a discussion topic related to Peak Ski skis during the après session.

“It’s more than just a ski, its a community,” Davenport said.