Watch Vintage Ski Footage of Legend Doug Coombs

Doug Coombs was an American alpine skier and mountaineer who helped pioneer the sport of extreme skiing in North America and worldwide.

He attended Montana State University in Bozeman where he honed his skiing skills at nearby Bridger Bowl before becoming a fixture of the extreme skiing scene in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, helping to found Valdez Heli-Ski Guides (and the heliskiing industry) in Alaska in 1994, and twice winning the World Extreme Skiing Championship, in 1991 and 1993.

Coombs married Emily Gladstone in 1992 and, in 1993, they founded Doug Coombs Steep Skiing Camps Worldwide in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In 1997, the Coombs moved the business to Europe, and the company continues to operate today in La Grave and Chamonix, in the French Alps.

While skiing with friends on April 3, 2006, Coombs died after a fall in Couloir de Polichinelle in La Grave, France. He was trying to rescue his friend Chad VanderHam, who had fallen himself.

The Doug Coombs Foundations helps low-income children spend days skiing in the winter. Visit here for more.