Skiing the 7 summits

The heart that beats within world-class skier Kit DesLauriers also sings.

She feels the silent song of the soul expand her being when she beholds nature’s verve and beauty. And in crystalline moments when death shoulders against life, and every molecule in her body must focus or perish, this song of the spirit lifts her in a crescendo of exquisite existence.

This aria of supreme joy never moved her more deeply than when she climbed to the summits of the highest peaks on all seven continents — and then skied off them. The two-time women’s world free skiing champion was the first to imagine such a thing, and the first to do it.

At 11 a.m., Oct. 18, 2006, DesLauriers stood on the pinnacle of Mount Everest, the final peak in the stunningly ambitious challenge she set for herself. She then skied down to the 40-foot sheer wall of rock called Hillary Step.

The following day DesLauriers upped the danger dramatically when she skied down the Lhotse Face. Just before the perilous descent her husband, Rob, asked her how she was doing.

DesLauriers’ answer — “I’m scared, and I don’t want to die.” Then she pushed off, choosing a line that had never been skied before.

“It was pure ice in places, and in other places it was even worse with these little white ball bearings of snow and ice mixed,” DesLauriers said recently by cell phone from Jackson, Wyo., where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. “There was very little snow, and incredibly high consequences.

“It was the most difficult ski descent that either Rob, Jimmy Chin [respected climber and photographer] or I had ever made. It was very, very steep and unrelenting for 5,000 vertical feet.

“I didn’t feel afraid. I was just hyper-aware of the fact that one slip of one of my steel edges and I’d be unrecognizable at the bottom of the Lhotse Face.”

On Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University of Virginia’s Newcomb Hall, DesLauriers will share her extraordinary story of courage and commitment to a dream during her presentation, “Lessons from the Summit: Skiing the Seven Summits.”

The North Face and Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is presenting the talk that will benefit Therapeutic Adventures, Inc. The nonprofit organization provides outdoor programs and specialty services for persons with disabilities.

Chasing your dream

“The ultimate goal of the event is to encourage people to chase after their dreams,” said Kurt Peterson, grassroots coordinator for Blue Ridge Mountain Sports. “Climb-ing a peak like Mount Everest requires a level of skill and experience not many people have.

“Then skiing off it is something I can’t even imagine. So listening to her talk about climbing and skiing the Seven Summits is something I’m greatly looking forward to, and we’ll be helping a great cause in Therapeu-tic Adventures.

“This is an organization that provides individuals from military veterans who have lost limbs, to women who have survived breast cancer, with an outlet to experience the pure joy that nature and outdoor sports can bring.”

DesLauriers’ back-to-back free skiing world championships, 2004-2005, are all the more remarkable because she had never competed in a skiing event before joining the tour. To win at that level of a sport once called “extreme skiing,” one must demonstrate control, fluidity, technique, aggressiveness and daring line choice that takes the skier through trees and off cliffs.

DesLauriers grew up on cross-country skis, then graduated to downhill when she was 14. After college she moved to Telluride, Colo., where she became a professional ski patroller, certified emergency medical technician and trained in technical and helicopter rescue.

DesLauriers said her motivation to continue to challenge herself in the sport she loves came naturally.

“I really love skiing and I love being outside,” said DesLauriers who is also an accomplished stone mason. “For me it’s a dance with nature, and a dance with myself.

“So I kept wanting to explore other aspects of it. As I got better at it I just wanted to keep stepping up the challenges.

“When I’m skiing off, I’m just skiing. The training you have done for years and years to get to this point just takes over. I’m picking my line and I have to be in the moment, because if I didn’t make every single turn count there wouldn’t have been a next turn to even bother with.

“It’s really, truly being in the moment, and for me that’s a big part of taking myself to places that are perhaps on the edge. It’s real bliss being so focused on the moment that you’re not overwhelmed with those thoughts that most of us spend our day watching bounce around our heads.”

Wednesday, at Newcomb

During the presentation DesLauriers will share still photographs as well as video footage taken at each of the seven summits. She will also contribute stories and anecdotes that will reveal the personal aspects of the challenge that took her around the world and deep into the heart of who she is.

“People often ask me If I would encourage our two little girls to do what I have done and I say, ‘Heck no,’ ” DesLauriers said with a laugh. “But a big part of my message is to find what makes your heart sing, and do that.

“Go after that, because that’s what you’ll be good at, and, frankly, that’s what you’re probably here to do.”

Kit DesLauriers will present “Lessons from the Summit: Skiing the Seven Summits,” on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in UVa’s Newcomb Hall. There will be limited free seating available on a first come basis. Guaranteed seating tickets start at $8 and are available at www. thenorthface.com/speakerseries. VIP tickets that include a 6 p.m. meet-and-greet reception with DesLauriers are $20. The pre-talk event includes beer, wine and light food. There will be a question and answer session and a poster signing following the presentation.