Results 251 to 275 of 577
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03-09-2020, 08:04 PM #251
This whole thing is pretty weird for me. I’ve had some of my most fun, wild, amazing, radical and crazy ski experiences thanks to Deano.
I’ve known Dean since 1990 in Telluride. I was a lead guide for H2O in Valdez for many years starting in 1996. I look back on those times as the glory years. We were all in our primes and we were thriving. Especially Dean. Amazing how far he has fallen and yet, honestly, not entirely surprising. This is a story 100% deserving of book length telling. Dean was (is) a person very difficult to deal with and like life or snow crystals, many faceted.
Things aren’t always so cut and dry. I’m sure he pissed a lot of people off, but he also showed a lot of people some of the best days of their lives. I can tell you he genuinely loved showing people the mountains. I’ve seen him more stoked after a day of guiding some random intermediate level skiers than after a sick day of filming with MSP. He truly loved teaching kids especially “at risk” kids.
From those youtube videos , it is clear to me he was suffering from some form of progressive mental illness and delusional paranoia.
It’s all pretty crazy. Dean was the most driven person I have ever experienced. I never once saw him kick back and relax. He always had 10 or more things going at once. He basically had personal assistants following him around working as scribes. They would literally take dictation and send 100’s of emails a day, dealing with sponsorship, filming, permits, helicopter rental, and much more simultaneously.
For some people there really is a fine line between genius and insanity. Deano had no real avalanche training and yet he was some kind of savant when it came to the snowpack. We would laugh behind his back when he talked about two finger or three finger snow, but his judgment was almost always right.
I know he loved to catch salmon in the summer and loved to cook it on the grill and share it with his guests. That was very real genuine kindness and stoke. But I also know he pissed a lot of people off. He basically burned every bridge he ever crossed.
At the same time he excelled at surrounding himself with amazing people. Some of the best people I have ever met were through H2O.
Anyway I guess what I’m saying is this is just really sad for all involved. Dean was a really amazing person with some real demons, but not all bad. I have had no contact with him for the past 12 years and he has obviously gone progressively downhill. I’m sure losing his family and business really drove him over the edge. No excuses for him, just some observations.
Pretty classic human tragedy story. I’m thankful I got to do some really sick shit with him and because of him. Sad for his family and the family of the guy he killed.
One last thought, I really don’t see Dean lasting in the New Mexico State Pen. It is more likely that he kills himself or gets killed by some hardened criminal.
Crazy.
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03-09-2020, 08:25 PM #252glocal
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- May 2002
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Made for TV movie tragedy with Deano's steep skiing footie as a backdrop.
Would make for some great viewing with a surpise letdown at the end
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03-09-2020, 08:31 PM #253
Next Krakauer book- Descent Into Madness (tm- if you're reading Jon)
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03-09-2020, 08:36 PM #254
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03-09-2020, 08:37 PM #255glocal
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Ah, c'mon, you know it has to be 1st Descent Into Madness. heh.
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03-09-2020, 09:03 PM #256Registered User
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- Apr 2006
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I hope someone writes about this tragedy, but preferably not HackKrauer.
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03-09-2020, 09:06 PM #257
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03-09-2020, 09:38 PM #258
Damn Lupolicious. What is your axe to grind with Dean? You obviously are a bit obsessed, having started this thread, and then posting every thing you can to make him look as bad as possible. Not that he didn't have some problems, but seriously, what's your deal?
El Kanone, thanks for the story and perspective.sproing!
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03-09-2020, 09:53 PM #259Registered User
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- Sep 2011
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Has anyone done a concussion/cte study on skiers?
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03-10-2020, 02:08 AM #260Registered User
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- Dec 2003
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Day'um. THAT does not bode well for Dean, sad to say...
My first post here in way too long. Carl Skoog and I hit up Valdez during and after the 1996 WESC, along with a woman friend of mine and about six rippin' Mt. Baker Hard Corp fellas. We took a few heli rides, toured, shot pics, and skied multiple road shots below Thompson Pass, while it was snowing for days on end. On the last day, we flew with Valdez H2O... and frolicked in four feet of fresh, bomber safe pow. My models were the US Extreme champ, Peter Bowers, the French champ Yan Andre, the one and only Scott Kennett, and Jessica Nolan, who later married Peter. We had two amazing runs, while Carl, God rest his soul, skied with and shot my friend Maria, and Dean Collins, the leader of the Mt. Baker Hard Corps--the rest of the gang had gone home....Dean was awesome. He'd had a slight injury if I recall correctly, so didn't win. Chris Davenport won his first, and Wendy Fisher, fresh off the US Ski Team, took home the women's "gold". Among the best two runs of my life, even if I was wielding a camera....
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03-10-2020, 02:19 AM #261Registered User
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03-10-2020, 02:32 AM #262Registered User
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Thanks for that.... Read two posts up... My guess is, you were our guide on that amazing 4/96 day! I think Python was one of the two runs we skied...
Hope you don't mind but I copied your post to my FB page.....
Reckon you know Scott Kennett? Tell him Roger says hi! And Dav....
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03-10-2020, 02:35 AM #263Registered User
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03-10-2020, 08:44 AM #264
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03-10-2020, 09:29 AM #265
Dean Cummings went full-bore crazy
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03-10-2020, 11:07 AM #266
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03-10-2020, 11:28 AM #267
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03-10-2020, 12:12 PM #268
The ski world is really a small world isn’t it? I was skiing Taos 1000 years ago and a good skier was right below the lift and the other guy on the chair seemed to know him, he said: “Oh that’s Dean, local guy.” I met a bunch of the Mahre’s on top of Washington Pass, skied in La Grave with Doug and Chad, talked with Mike Hattrup checking our bags leaving Jackson, etc.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda
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03-10-2020, 12:49 PM #269Registered User
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- Mar 2015
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Totally nuts and a assault weapon
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03-10-2020, 03:10 PM #270
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03-10-2020, 03:38 PM #271Registered User
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- Aug 2002
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I rarely post on here these days, though I still check in semi-frequently, and it saddens me that the last 2 threads I've posted in are now this one and the one about Robb Gaffney's cancer.
I never had any contact with Dean other than seeing him on film and in the magazines, so I've nothing to add to this story other than it's depressing to read all this and equally depressing to know that some decent mental health care might have saved both Dean and his victim.
On a positive note, yeah, from what I can tell Pehota remains the MAN. I met him like 10 years ago at the Kootenay Coldsmoke Festival at WH2O where he was coaching/guiding. I of course had signed up for his clinic the one day. That night at the Coldsmoke buffet (Buff-eh I think) he and his 2 buddies that he brought along - Webby and ... can't remember the other one - randomly sat down next to my gf and I. A few hours later, my face literally hurt from laughing so hard the entire night listening to Eric and Webby tell stories and rib each other. Webby was an ice-road trucker in the Northern Territory part of the year, so yeah, he had some stories.
About 3 years later gf and I were in Whistler, went into the Roundhouse for some lunch, randomly grabbed a few empty seats, and turned around to see Eric and one of his sons sitting a few tables away brown-bagging it. Walked over, said hello, said we'd met at Coldsmoke, and he even remembered my name. Talked for a good 15 minutes, then I said "good seeing you" or something and went back to my table. Another 15 minutes later, he walked back to my table (opposite the direction of the door) and was like good seeing you, hope you have a good trip, let's make some turns if you see me on the hill, etc.
Nothing but respect for Eric. His kids are pretty good skiers too.
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03-10-2020, 05:41 PM #272
.
john waterman
chris mccandless
timothy treadwell
now dean cummings ....
if you're close to the edge,
alaska can send you over
."we all do dumb shit when we're fucked up"
mike tyson
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03-10-2020, 07:09 PM #273Banned
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- May 2007
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Living on the "edge" seems to be a common theme.
I wish Dean the best. Never did me wrong. Quirky comes with that territory sometimes, hell most times.
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03-18-2020, 06:38 PM #274
Podcast from July 2019 w Dean.
I have not listed to it yet, maybe during an hour and half ride on the trainer?
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03-19-2020, 08:42 AM #275
Clearly you have never been compelled to listen to Dean for 1.5 hours.
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