Extreme skiing

The first practitioners include Swiss skier Sylvain Saudan,[2] who invented the "windshield wiper" turn in the mid-1960s, and in 1967 made the first descents of slopes in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps that were previously considered impossible.

Early American practitioners include Bill Briggs, who descended Grand Teton on June 15, 1971.

[4] The Frenchmen Patrick Vallençant, Jean-Marc Boivin and Anselme Baud and the Italians Stefano De Benedetti and Toni Valeruz were among those who further developed the art and brought notoriety to the sport in the 1970s and 1980s.

[5] The key North American skiers who popularized the sport include: Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, David W. Kraft, Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt, known as The Extreme-6 and all considered among the top extreme skiers in the world during their prime.

[6] Because of the extremely long, steep slopes, and dangerous terrain, single mistakes at the wrong moment by some extreme skiers have led to them being seriously injured or killed.

The east face of the Matterhorn . Toni Valeruz made the first ski descent of the face on 60+ degree slopes on 14 May 1975, from the Shoulder of the Hörnli Ridge. [ 1 ]
Mount Hood, the location of Saudan's 'first descent'.
Tuckerman's Ravine, found on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, is a popular location for extreme skiing in North America.