at the bottom of a couloir that cliffs out, losing an edge and plummeting downwards. I quickly went on the web, went to www.powdermag.com and checked a few reports. To my utter dismay , the news was true. Doug had been skiing the “ Couloir de Polichinelle “ with Colorado skier and aspiring mountain guide, Chad VanderHam, 31 . The Couloir ends in a two hundred foot vertical cliff and one must veer off and take another couloir to exit by.

The news now really started to seep in. I had only skied La Grave once, ironically I was also while filming THE SPIRIT , a film dedicated to Trevor Petersen who perished in an avalanche while skiing the Couloir Cosmique, off the Aguille Du Midi in Chamonix . Soon a lot of memories began flooding my mind. I had judged the World Extreme Skiing Championships in Alaska for eight seasons. That is where I first met Doug, in 1991, although our paths have crossed previously in places like Jackson Hole and Whistler. The memories were overwhelming.

We all stayed at the Tsaina Lodge which Mike Cozad was running at the time. It was a very happy and festive time. The world’s best extreme skiers had been filing through the place, then of course also came the snowboarders. We were shooting two films at the time VALDEZ GOES EXTREME a documentary on the town of Valdez and SUDDEN EXPOSURE, a story on the World’s first extreme snowboarding contest. These were epic times, when we were all exploring Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. We spent many days flying and skiing together, both in helicopters as well as Alaska West Air’s trustworthy Beaver fixed wing aircraft. These were the days when we first skied Diamond Peak, the tallest in The Valdez area at 10,000FT. I still clearly recall some very humorous moments on Diamond Peak.
There were times when the chopper would just hover and Doug and Jim Conway would have to crawl out on top of a snow cone with their shovels and dig like mad to create a proper Landing Zone. The skiing on Diamond was incredible. I had never encountered such consistent steeps, 50 degrees _ with waist deep snow, yet totally bomber and safe conditions avalanche wise. That’s actually Randy skiing Diamond on the cover of Valdez Goes Extreme DVD release in waist deep pow with a forty pound betacam on his back.
Those days on Diamond were certainly unforgettable. Then there was Scotty Fullmer, another friend and cameraman there at the time. I still chuckle-remembering Scotty, buzzing us over Diamond Peak in the Beaver. He had found a “ manhole “ type of cover, a lid of a sort, which he could remove from the floor of the airplane and shoot out of as we screamed at him as he flew overhead. These were hilarious times !

We flew half way towards Anchorage from Valdez one day with Coombs, Reynolds and Conway, with our eyes plastered to the window, like kids outside a candy store. There were just so many possibilities to ski here. There were 12,000ft peaks with glaciers rolling right down to the ocean. I still recall looking at the ice flows in the water and wondering if we could ever get a boat to pick us up if we skied off a peak down there.

When the snowboarders arrived at Tsaina, we flew around some more to find venues like “ The White Room “, places for them to compete on. Doug was so casual about the whole thing. We were looking at these monstrous walls, picking out lines for them to compete on. I still remember the boarders, often so oblivious to the seriousness of the terrain they would be ripping in the contest. Luckily no body got hurt and killed despite the objective hazards looming everywhere around us at the time. Doug was such a capable guide, very safe, without a trace of an ego. He made us feel so good about the task at hand. He certainly made everyone feel comfortable. He laughed and called me a “goat“ several times as I tried scrambling ahead with my sturdy Bolex trying to get footage. He was always cordial and patient and helped me get my shots. This was not always the case with other skiers and boarders when they got out of a chopper. They just wanted to go, jonesing for the powder, camera around, or not. Then there was Emily his partner , always smiling at the gong show, unravelling around us sometimes. Emily ripped some great lines on film for us as well.

In between the WESC contests we were also shooting INTO THE POWDER, a film about learning how to ski powder, with some entertaining stories in between the instruction. We had been doing most of the shooting in Whistler. We never had the budgets of Warren Miller or RAP films at the time. It was always a shoestring budget, some free lift tickets and that’s about all. Yet Doug understood. He made a special effort to come and shoot with us on Blackcomb. These were instructional scenes how to use a Pieps, shovel and probe. Doug Coombs was also very generous. He did a splendid job as a host and presenter of our entire safety segment, and he did it out of camaraderie and spirit, something unheard of if coming from the other skiing superstars at the time.

More recently I was interviewed by a New York production company making a film called “ The Edge of Never “ or whatever. It is supposed to be on the history of Big Mountain skiing, starring Trevor’s son Kye Petersen, Trevor and Eric Pehota. Doug Coombs was to play a big part in the film as well. The interview brought all those stories to my mind again…..

Anyhow, I will stop here because I do not want to burden everyone with too many tales . My hat’s off to you Doug, may your spirit rest in peace , I know you are out there shredding it up somewhere with Trevor and other fallen soldiers of the high alpine, adieu my friend !

For more Peter C . stories scroll through www.explorex.net home page, 1,2,3 etc.