Doug Coombs

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Doug Coombs

What hooked Doug Coombs into skiing? "Boredom," he says. "Every time I skied an area, I just wanted more."

Coombs says that he has to keep on moving — he can't stay in one place too long. Though he's at home in many places, his first home is in the mountains. Coombs spends the early part of his winters in Europe, springtime in Alaska, and summers in Jackson Hole, WY, and in all these places you can guarantee he's in the wilderness or on a vertical adventure.

Coombs was born in Boston and grew up skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire. He moved to Montana when he was 17 to ski and attend school (in that order) at Montana State University. After skiing Bridger Bowl and Big Sky during college, he moved to Jackson Hole in '86. There, he started guiding for High Mountain Heli Skiing and ultimately founded his Steep Skiing Camps there before moving them to Europe and Alaska.

	Doug Coombs

Coombs says he has gained inspiration from European extreme ski legends such as Patrick Vallençant and Pierre Tardivel. Coombs says he learned about patience from Tardivel, who often scopes out a line and then waits years for the right ski conditions to attempt it. "When the time looks right, I pounce. You have to plan it then wait. It's all about patience," says Coombs. Back on American soil, he also notes mentors. Coombs met Alex Lowe while living in Montana, and learned from him his most important lesson about attitude: leave your ego at home.

Coombs and his wife Emily started Valdez Heli-Ski Guides in Valdez, AK in '94 after developing a passion for the big mountains of Alaska. They also co-founded Steep Skiing Camps Worldwide, with camps in La Grave and Verbier, France, and Valdez, which focus on teaching steep skiing techniques, avalanche awareness and mountain safety. Summers, Coombs is a part-time rock guide with Exum Mountain Guides in Jackson Hole.

A week before his departure for Antarctica, Doug was on top of the Grand Teton (13,770ft) in a T-shirt. Now, Coombs is looking forward to attempting a couloir on the west face of Vinson Massif which has been climbed, but not skied.