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Ski Bums Forever - A new video by Black Crows Skis

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Dean Decas


Ski Bums Forever​

There is an old ski bum joke that goes like this….

Q: “What do jail and ski resorts have in common”?

A: “You do 3-5 months, 3-5 years or life”!

For those of us who are “lifers” to the “Ski Bum” lifestyle, that joke hits close to home.

In 1994, for the Warren Miller’s “Vertical Reality” Dean Decas and I jumped out of the Cannon Mountain tramway for the film. Dean was then and is today one of the most committed ski bums I have had the privilege know, travel and ski with. Dean was a die-hard east coast ripper who hailed from Killington Vermont via his childhood home in Cape Cod Massachusetts. Dean then moved to Squaw Valley and from the late 80’s to the early 90’s Dean Decas was a fixture in the Squaw Valley culture. He skied with the hard-core local crew, they skied all conditions every day.

At that time VHS video camera, was the GoPro of the day, then came the miniVHS, then came the Hi8 camera, and Dean always had the latest version of video camera in his pack. He and his crew filmed all the time, and they reviewed the tapes every night, rewinding and replaying their favorite moments of the day past and present.

In 1991 the Xteam Advance Ski Clinics were launched and ran for over 15 years with Rob and Eric DesLauriers and the Egan Brothers. The clinics included video review of the client’s progress and our camera man was Dean Decas. Dean quickly became a coach with the four brothers, and we ran camps and clinics in Vermont, Colorado, Canada, South America and Europe. He has skied in front of the lens for Straight Up Films, EEN, Warren Miller and Dogs of Winter as well as countless others. He has been featured on NESN, ESPN, MTV and other media outlets.
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In the mid 90’s we landed in Chamonix France for a clinic and Dean found his home. The town fit him like a glove within a few seasons we were referring to him as the “Mayor of Chamonix”. Over the years I have traveled with Dean to the Arctic, all across Europe, and South America and every time I have arrived with him and he has found ways and means to stay behind and soak up the experience a bit longer always finding the local crew who live to ski and ski to live.

Dean is widely known throughout the ski community as the “Greek” and along with his fellow ski addict Tony Stradler, known as “SwissTony” to the Chamonix locals, they are both featured in this new video by Black Crow Skis.

It’s a great tribute to those “lifers” who live to ride and ride to live.

Enjoy!
About author
Dan Egan
Dan Egan thrives on taking action that produces results. First known as a world-renowned extreme skier, Dan is now considered an early pioneer of “extreme” action sports. He appeared in 12 Warren Miller Ski Films from 1985-1994.

Together with his brother John, Dan Egan is known for skiing the most remote regions of the world. Their exploits have been featured on the Discovery Channel, ESPN, and Good Morning America. Powder Magazine named him one of the most influential skiers of our time.

Off the snow, Dan Egan has contributed mightily to the ski industry. As a winter sports broadcast producer, Egan was awarded a Telly Award (Disaster on Mt Elbrus 1991) and his films won “Best of the Fest” at the 1989 (World Wide and Wild) and 1994 (Children of the Snow) at the International Ski Film Festival. Egan is a 3-time New England EMMY award nominee for his TV series, Dan Egan’s Wild World of Winter.

Journalism has filled a good deal Dan’s time. He has authored two books, “All Terrain Skiing” and “Courage to Persevere” He has covered three Olympics and is a contributor to the Boston Globe. His “Edging the Xtreme” radio show is featured on RadioBDC.com, is a two-time NASJA Harold Hirsch award winner for excellence in journalism and a NASJA Mitch Kaplan award winner.

Since 1991 Egan has run ski camps and clinics around the world teaching thousands of skiers the “Secrets of All Terrain Skiing.” His company Skiclinics.com organizes trips in South America, Europe and North America and his camps are continually sold out to this day. Today he can be found at Killington, Big Sky, Valle Nevado and Val D Isere Resorts sponsored by Elan Skis.

Today Daniel Egan channels much of his boundless energy into action sports marketing and consulting to some of the world’s most recognized and iconic brands.

Replies

I've never skied with Dean, but have ridden bikes with him a bunch. This video definitely captures The Greek. Glad to see they showed a little bit of Striper fishing too. You can't tell his story without some stripers. That's one thing that will bring him back to the Cape every year.
 
that made me smile, thx for sharing!
Nice marketing piece with heart, BlackCrows.

I too spent some time with Dean, just a 3 day weekend when I was assisting my buddy at the time, EricDeLauriers by adding another coach for one of their X team clinics in Tahoe. I tail guided/coached with Dan (or John) (Dan, maybe you can help me, long time ago?), but Dean was doing some video and his enthusiasm and passion were evident and infectious.

watching something like this makes one wonder... forks in the road... of course, I do have two wonderful college age daughters I get to ski with and ride mt bikes with, so I like my direction at that fork too.. :).
Cheers,
W
 
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Wow. That video really pulls on my soul. Part of me wants my kid to go that route (he's 16 yo) but I know that that is my selfish inner-child, wanting to live that way through him. He'll find his own path. As much as part of me yearns for that life, I'm glad I took the path that led me to "right here, right now". Nothing could be better...
 
Would like to get on some BC, nice video! Animas to be exact.

gotta also say, I grew up watching films with the Egans

Blown away participating in a thread/article of Dan’s
 

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