“The 10,450-foot Mt. Francis sits directly above the baseball fields of my son’s school [in Valdez, AK], and while coaching his team I’d look straight at it, wondering if it was truly skiable. After nearly 20 years of trying, in 2014 I finally had the opportunity. It was steep right from the top—the flute above the first cliff band was nearly 70 degrees—but it worked. Along with the west face of Meteorite Mountain, it remains the most humbling big descent of my life.” —Dean Cummings Photo: Eric Layton Dean Cummings 057
The Ski Journal Volume Eleven, Issue Three: Page 57
