Opinion

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo.—He may have been born in New Mexico, but over the course of one of the most storied careers in big-mountain skiing, Dean Cummings has come to symbolize Alaska nearly as much as Sarah Palin, Kodiak bears and oil pipelines have. The erstwhile New Mexican followed his passion years ago to Valdez, where he established H2O Guides, a thriving helicopter-skiing and mountain-guiding business.

A more recent venture, H2O Outdoor Gear, has seen Cummings branch off into designing and producing equipment with an eye toward bringing Alaska-worthy gear to the masses. With that goal in mind, H2O recently unveiled a new line of skis, all of which feature the company’s slogan, “Access the Goods,” running in bright letters down the base.

Cummings himself ventured down from the great white north late last month to host an on-snow demo day for the press corps at Arapahoe Basin. There, under sunny skies – with unfortunately thin conditions – a select group of snowsports journalists and Summit County locals gathered for the opportunity to, as it were, assess the goods.

As one might expect, H2O’s skis start fat and only get fatter. The narrowest of the three, the shapely Tazlina, measures 108 millimeters under foot, with a 137-mm tip and 124-mm tail. Next in girth is the Kodiak, which is 120 under foot and 151 and 132.5, respectively, in the tip and tail. Even that, however, pales in comparison to the behemoth Karen‘cito,’ which comes in at 165 in the tip, 149 in the tail and a whopping 133 under foot.  

I tried on the Karen‘cito’ first, and having never been on a ski so wide before, I found it a little awkward on the first run. It took me a few turns to adjust to the idea of rolling onto the edge and then, essentially, elevating. The ski’s size necessitated a widening of my stance and a tad more patience starting turns, but once I’d made those changes, it skied like a champ, even on the hardpacked and bony conditions. It held a solid edge during high-speed turns – in fact, it practically begged for high speeds to really dig in – and it was plenty quick enough edge-to-edge in trees and bumps. Still, it was clear this big-mountain fatty, Cummings’ signature ski, was out of its element.

Next up was the Tazlina, a big ski in its own right but a twig next to the Karen‘cito.’ Solid and responsive on groomers and hardpack, the Tazlina functioned as a veritable carving ski, arcing turns wherever and whenever I felt inclined to make them. Despite its skinniness relative to H2O’s other skis, I’m going to assume the Tazlina offers sufficient float in powder conditions; skis its size usually do. Sadly, I didn’t have the chance to find out on the bluebird day I got to ski it. This would be an excellent choice for anyone looking to handle whatever the ski area has to offer before venturing into the sidecountry for a little exploration.

I finished up with the Kodiak, which was also wider than anything I’d been on prior to that day. Large as it was, the Kodiak proved right away to be the better choice for A-Basin’s conditions of the moment than the Karen‘cito.’ I found myself atop a slope peppered with shrubs and rocks and was happy to have a slightly stiffer ski to make the quick, short turns the run required. Later, letting it all hang out on a groomer, I found the Kodiak easy to turn and good at holding a solid edge through the sharpest carves I could muster. The consensus among the assembled crew, all of whom were experienced on- and off-piste skiers, was that the Kodiak would be the most versatile ski for anyone as likely to hit the resort as the backcountry.

All three skis feature eye-catching graphics inspired by Cummings’ Alaskan surroundings, and all have names honoring Cummings wife, son and daughter, hinting at the personal nature of the ski business for H2O’s founder, public face and on-snow goodwill ambassador.
 
Skiing is clearly more than a vocation for Cummings, who is among the most active voices in the promotion of backcountry safety and avalanche awareness. He was quick to dispense tips to anyone skiing with him, and he promoted safety protocols – a sort of three-strike approach to risk assessment – with a nearly missionary zeal. Indeed, he even stopped us on one run to step just outside the ropes and show us how to quickly dig a snow pit with our ski poles so we could assess changing conditions on the fly.

Cummings seemed to already know just about everyone we encountered over the course of the day, despite having only lived near A-Basin for a short time early in his skiing career. He also seemed to know everyone whose name came up in conversation. I even found out later that he used to pal around with some slacker friends of mine years ago in Winter Park. It’s no wonder there are few people so respected and admired in the ski industry – the guy’s friends with practically everyone at every resort in North America.

OK, that may be an exaggeration, but not by much.

The day wrapped up with a presentation of Cummings’ short film, “The Steep Life,” in A-Basin’s venerable base lodge. The film delved further into Cummings preferred safety protocols and showed the man doing what he does best: skiing two first descents of dizzyingly steep lines in Alaska’s Chugach mountains. As Cummings navigated the outrageous conditions and explained his efforts to minimize his risk while doing so, I found myself thinking that whatever you might think of his skis – and there’s no reason you wouldn’t like them – you can rest assured the man who designed them knows what he’s talking about.