User:Davidwkraft12/David Kraft

David Kraft (July 31, 1961) is a Washington State based freeskiier and was instrumental in popularizing the sport of extreme skiing in the Northwestern part of the North America. Probably the least known of “The Extreme-6 ” pioneers of the sport ( Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Glen Plake, David Kraft, and Scot Schmidt) he certainly was highly photographed and brought considerable exposure & recognition to extreme skiing from 1980 to 2005. David’s debut on ski’s started at 10 years old at Crystal Mountain, WA. His choice of terrain in the rugged North Cascades of Washington State and British Columbia brought him unintended notoriety as this mountain range is one of the most rugged untapped and vertically steep in the world. His modest demeanor and avoidance of the press and interviews has purposely kept him out of the spotlight. He advocated Inner Skiing, the Zen-like skiing culture where ‘one ski’s for self’ rather than exhibition for others, a self prescribed belief that Kraft says, “Has kept me safe and “grounded” over the years”, preferring anonymity and obscurity over celebrity. His notoriety hit a pinnacle when he became the first person ever to climb, with his ski’s on his back, to the summit of the 3 most vertically sheer peaks on the continent and skied down from the top.....the North Cascades Mt. Arriva, Mt. Larrabee & Mt. Swiss. (see external links below) External links

* Mount Arriva: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/41761983 * Mount Larrabee: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/42292866 * Mount Swiss: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/41850187