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ISHA needs reference books!
If you have bound volumes or collections of old ski magazines, please consider donating them to ISHA for inclusion in our reference libraries. A tax-deductible donation or bequest will help us produce a better, more useful, more entertaining magazine. Email seth@masia.org to arrange for a pick-up.
Doug Coombs, 48
Extreme skiing pioneer and mountain guide killed in a cliff fall in France.
Doug Coombs, 48, was killed in a cliff fall while guiding
in France on April 3.
Coombs
was a hero of the extreme skiing movement. He first came to national prominence
in 1991, as winner of the first US Extreme Skiing Championship in Alaska.
He repeated the championship in 1993.
Coombs and his wife Emily ran an adventure skiing guide service in La
Grave, France. According to an accident report, Coombs was guiding a group
of three clients when Chad VanderHam, 31, of Keystone, Colo., fell on
an icy pitch and went over a cliff. Coombs sidestepped down to see what
had happened to VanderHam, lost his edge grip and himself went over the
edge. Both men were killed in the 600-foot plunge down the Polichinelle
Couloir.
VanderHam was himself a licensed mountain guide.
Doug Coombs grew up in Bedford, Mass., and skied in New England. He raced
for Montana State University in Bozeman, and graduated with a degree in
geology. He began 
guiding
in Jackson Hole in 1986. He posted first descents on over 250 couloirs
and extreme snowfields on five continents, and was featured in many films.
Doug was among the pioneers of skiing in Alaska’s Chugach Range,
and with his wife Emily, founded Valdez Heli-Ski Guides in 1994. They
sold the business in 2001.
The couple also founded Steep Skiing Camps Worldwide in Jackson in 1993,
then moved the business to La Grave and Verbier in 1997.
Coombs was a three-time winner of the National Powder 8 championship,
a certified UIAGM mountain guide and a member of the American Mountain
Guide Association. He is survived by Emily and their three-year-old son
David.
International Skiing
History Association
JOURNAL
OF ISHA, THE INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOCIATION
The
International Skiing History Association is a not-for-profit corporation,
whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history
and to increase public awareness of the sport's heritage.
ISHA,
530 Cheese Factory Rd., So. Burlington VT 05403 802-863-2511 x2020
Skiing Heritage, 133
South Van Gordon St #300, Lakewood CO 80228 303-987-1111