By Jim Stanford on November 10, 2009
Doug with son David. (Photo by David Gonzales)
Doug Coombs, the late Jackson Hole skier and mountain guide, was inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame on Friday.
Coombs joins Tommy Moe, Bill Briggs, Pepi Stiegler and Betty Woolsey in the pantheon of Jackson Hole skiers chosen for the honor.
The two-time World Extreme Skiing champ “may be the most recognizable skier in this year’s class for his appearances in many ski films in the 1990s,” said a press release announcing his selection. He is regarded “as the most important skier of his generation in popularizing adventure skiing.”
Coombs, who died in 2006 in a fall in the French Alps, was known for carving even the most difficult of conditions with superb fluidity. He took ski mountaineering to new heights in the Tetons, the Chugach Range of Alaska and the Alps, particularly around La Grave, where he and his wife, Emily, operated steep skiing camps.
Powder pays tribute.
He was a former ski ambassador for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and co-founder with Emily of Valdez Heli-Ski Guides in Alaska. He guided for Exum Mountain Guides in the Tetons.
“Although his skills far surpassed those of most of the people he guided, he had a capacity to make every skier who came into contact with him believe they could try bigger challenges,” the release said.
Coombs was joined in this year’s class by the late Paul Robbins, a longtime ski writer and TV commentator known for his trademark cap and encyclopedic knowledge of the sport. Robbins, who died last year, will be sorely missed at this winter’s Vancouver Olympics.
The Anchorage Daily News has more on the selections.
Not chosen among the nominees: Glenn Plake, the notorious extreme skier.
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• The Snaz: Doug Coombs – The Quick and Painless Ski Tune
Posted under Deaths, Ski Resorts, Sports
About time!!!
Coombs was amazing. Plake should be in there too!