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Dean Cummings extreme: A jailhouse interview with ski pioneer, accused murderer
Editor’s note: On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, Dean Cummings was found not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. His attorneys successfully argued he shot and killed Guillermo Arriola in self-defense.
Editor’s note 2: District Attorney Lemuel Martinez provided the following update on Dec. 1, 2020: “The defendant has raised competency in this case and he was ordered to the New Mexico Behavioral [Health] Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to be treated to competency, so the case is stayed and nothing is going on or can go on until his competency is determined.”
Editor’s note 3: In an in-depth article on Cummings in the February, 2021 issue of Outside, the magazine reports that “at a hearing on February 11, a judge determined that Cummings is now fit to be tried in court. A trial is tentatively set for January 2022.”
Editor’s note 4: Cummings’ trial has now been moved from August to November of 2022. This reporter may be called as a witness because of this 2020 jailhouse phone interview.
Extreme-skiing pioneer Dean Cummings once said Alaska’s Chugach mountain range was “the place I wanted to be the rest of my life,” so what was he doing in New Mexico Feb. 29 when he allegedly shot and killed Guillermo Arriola in what Cummings claims was self-defense?
Cummings, 54, is being held without bond on a felony second-degree murder charge in the Sandoval County Detention Center, where he reached out to RealVail.com by phone late last week. Cummings said he was looking for a re-do on life after the abrupt and controversial end of his nearly 25-year-old H2O Guides helicopter skiing company in Valdez, Alaska.
“He had a trailer there,” Cummings said of Arriola, who owned the property Cummings claimed was one of five he was looking to buy west of his former hometown of Los Alamos. “It’s a super-beautiful little piece of property on a river. It’s got horses; it’s got four horse stables. And I’m like, ‘Well, I guess it’s time to change my life and start where I left off and get off the grid.’”
Cummings said he had an RV parked on the property of Arriola, an acquaintance, but had only stayed there a couple of days when he woke up in the night to a strange and overwhelming smell.
“I knew it was bogus, and I was like, f___ this, ‘I’m going to go get my trailer.’” Cummings said. “I went there … and in the middle of the night, I was like gasping. The whole place smelled like propane and garlic and it was all neuro.”
Cummings said Arriola wasn’t there that night but showed up the next day – Saturday, Feb. 29 – around 2 p.m. and was acting “creepy.” Determined to get his RV and leave Arriola’s property, Cummings said he started removing his things from Arriola’s mobile home.
They were both in the home, Cummings said, when they started arguing about whether Arriola was part of the vast conspiracy Cummings said tried to destroy the heli-skiing company he founded in 1995 – the longest running and one of the most respected operations in Alaska.
It’s a conspiracy the former U.S. Ski Team member and extreme skiing champion detailed on his 20-volume YouTube channel entitled “How a Criminal Syndicate Tried to Destroy A Man’s Company and Life” starting Jan. 4 and ending on Jan. 14 of 2019.
Cummings said he confronted Arriola about the syndicate, which the skier claims uses nanobacteria made from pumice silica in people’s bloodstream as a magnetic means of tracking digital signatures – “terrorism basically with 5G and Blue Tooth once it’s in your cells …”
Cummings demanded of Arriola: “Are you involved with this [expletive]? Are these nano-pawns on your property?” That’s when he said Arriola attacked him.
“He just jumps at me and goes, ‘[expletive], I’m going to kill you,’” Cummings said. “And he has a canister in his hand and … it was some sort of deadly [expletive]. He’s like, ‘I got bodies buried on the property, [expletive], I’m gonna kill you,’ and he attacks me.”
Cummings said he had just put a scope on a rifle that was leaning against the wall by the kitchen table because he was planning to hunt wild barbary sheep that live in the area. Cummings said he grabbed the gun as he was scuffling with Arriola, who struck him several times and was jamming a canister of chemicals in his face.
“I just started pulling the trigger,” said Cummings, who admits he was “kind of out of it” by then because of the chemicals and being struck. “I don’t even know if I shot him. I shot the floor like five or six times, and, all of a sudden, he just drops face first.”
Because there was no cell service on the property, Cummings, after trying to clear his lungs with deep breathing exercises and water, said he drove three miles to where he had a connection but then encountered “the guy from [the TV show] Breaking Bad, the doctor dude,” who had cell service and medical training and offered to be a witness to Cummings’ version of events.
According to police reports and the Rio Rancho Observer and Albuquerque Journal, Cummings told his father and another man with medical experience that he shot Arriola with “an AR-15-type rifle” in an argument over property.
Cummings said New Mexico law enforcement officials, mental health providers, jailers and prosecutors are all in on the global criminal syndicate with tendrils all the way to the Alaska governor’s office, and that his deadly encounter with Arriola was an attempt on his life.
“The hit didn’t work,” Cummings said. “So now it’s time to frame Dean for a murder.”
Cummings was first charged with an open count of first-degree murder, but that charge has been amended to second-degree murder, a second-degree felony. Cummings also faces a charge of tampering with evidence, a fourth-degree felony, and concealing his identity, a petty misdemeanor. Cummings’ next appearance is a May 8 arraignment hearing.
“I just checked with our investigative team at the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, and they say this case is still under active investigation, and it is the policy of Sandoval County to not comment on pending and active investigations,” Sandoval County spokesman Stephen Montoya said in an email.
After a highly-ranked but relatively brief run as a top mogul skier for the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, including a stint as a ski ambassador at Taos Ski Valley, Cummings first went to Alaska’s world-famous Chugach Mountains above Prince William Sound in 1991.
He finished second to the legendary big-mountain skier Doug Coombs in the inaugural World Extreme Skiing Championship in ’91 and went on to win the event in ’95, the same year he launched H2O Guides out of Valdez.
For the next two decades, Cummings – a hard-ass stickler for safety and protocol – ran one of the heli-skiing industry’s most respected companies, guiding thousands of wealthy clients on some of the most daunting ski terrain in the world, made famous in countless ski films.
Cummings registered hundreds of first descents in the Chugach, and in 2012 won Powder Magazine’s “Best Line” competition for his run on Meteorite Mountain’s Dragon’s Back — the longest spine on the famous mountain near Thompson Pass above Valdez. That run was featured in Cummings’ film The Steep Life.
Cummings famously battled with other heli-skiing operators over the years over permit areas, making many enemies in the process. His contemporary, Coombs, sold his own operation fairly early on and wound up guiding in La Grave, France, where he died in a ski accident with clients from Colorado in 2006.
Cummings said Coombs’ death was no accident, and that Coombs was a victim of the same syndicate that’s out to get him, claiming with no evidence, “That’s how Doug got killed. They offed him.”
Cummings grew up in Los Alamos – the base for the Manhattan Project during World War II that resulted in the first atomic bomb. Scientists there – many of them from ski-mad countries in Europe – started Pajarito ski area, where Cummings first learned the sport.
In a 2006 Ski Magazine profile on Cummings entitled, “9 Ways To Be Dean Cummings”, his mother, Carol, speaking about her fourth child’s formative year, was quoted as saying: “He was small, but he was scrappy. You didn’t pick a fight with him — and if you did, you were dead.”
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Colby Scott
April 30, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Dean Cummings needs a CT scan minimally to assess for CTE, minimally to see what’s going on, physically with blood flow into his brain. Something sounds physically wrong with his brain.
Carl
February 25, 2021 at 3:05 pm
Colby, a CT scan won’t show that. Unless there have been some tremendous advances, the only way it can be diagnosed is posthumously. There clearly is a problem, but that also does not minimize what could really be happening. Is has been proven that the mentally ill make easy targets for those with criminal intent.
Nils Gram
May 5, 2020 at 3:01 pm
I guess I’m going to have to comment on this sooner or later so, I’ll do it now.
I know Dean. I’m two years older than him. We both grew up in Los Alamos and learned how to ski at Pajarito Mtn. For a small, local hill, only 1100 vertical feet and three lifts, a good number of excellent skiers have come off it. I’m one of them. Dean is certainly the one who was able to make the most of it.
I gave him the nickname D-9 Cummings pretty early on. For the way he bullied his way down the slopes. No technique whatsoever. You gotta figure, by the time Dean Cummings ever showed-up on my radar, I had been skiing for fifteen years. Over the years he’s gotten much better. I’ve skied and trained and rock climbed and gone boating with Deano. In a lot of ways our lives on the edge have been woven together. I was living in Anchorage when he won the WESC in 1995. I had just come off a solo attempt on Mt. McKinley and he was camping at Tommy Moe’s house in Girdwood. I was never able to catch him to congratulate him. Apparently, he had already gone boating.
Over the years I’ve read a lot about Dean in the press that I know isn’t true. Some of it is, but it’s always been sketchy. He’s been at the top of the heap in his world for a long time. People get tired of hearing about what a bad-ass you are and they try to pull you down. If they can.
Nevertheless, this situation is all too real. He has the blood of a Spanish man on his hands in a very Spanish community and very Spanish State. The Sandoval county Sherriff’s office is dysfunctional and corrupt. He’s the only witness in this incident because the other man is dead. It’s Dean’s word against theirs’. He’s fucked.
Dean has the temperament of a tightly wound spring. He’s never been a big drinker or drug user. I don’t doubt that he’s gone crazy now, he always has been. He’s not alone. He may be delusional but, he’s not a liar. The only thing I can say for sure; He’s my friend. Always has been. Always will be.
Dina
December 17, 2020 at 10:51 am
Dean is my friend, we met in 1991 and I helped him with some small matters when he was setting up his business. I can only say that a lot of what he speaks to in his videos is true… I know because it’s happening to me and it’s frightening and there is nowhere to turn for help because to even try and explain it makes you look like you’re a crazy person…. my heart hurts for his family but it breaks for Dean because it should have never come to this.
Lisa
November 9, 2021 at 2:41 am
Right on. My dad and Dean’s dad used to go hunting. I used to climb the water tower behind there house on bronca mesa. I was friends with his little sister. Dean went to the top of the mountain, pointed his skis straight down and went for it. That was before the mother chair. Dean’s first run because I told him he couldn’t beat me, no way. Lol, don’t tell Dean that. One to tell him you can’t, that’s when he proves you wrong. He lives to prove you wrong. The word can’t didn’t exist in his world. I believe him too. That’s right! Dean was never a liar. Okay, well once I think he lied. He did drink. In high school. He got arrested for drink walking. He was bullied by the authorities growing up. In Los Alamos, the aristocrats only knew the word can’t. So obviously there was a clash. He made a choice. He chose skiing. He left all of us in his dust and lived what every single human dreams of living. It is a story fairy tails are made of. A person on top of the world? You bet there was smoldering jealousy, you bet that volcanic pressure was ready to explode on his mountain. That the pressure built up under ground in the form of conspiracy. Hi … Wake up people. Like someone else said. See that man in his suit lining his pockets with your dreams. And then you look at the other side. Crazy? What happens when you take a pitcher and start to fill it up with water. It gets full right. If you keep pouring water into it. Then it’s full. What happens when you keep pouring water into it? It overfilled and falls out the top right. So how can you expect that pitcher to keep holding all the water your pouring? I mean that’s crazy. To expect this pitcher to be able to contain all that water. So who’s the crazy ones? Really? Don’t judge. Stress and a break down, and alone. That’s not fun. Especially to someone who’s family meant everything. Oh and there was tension between Dean and his siblings their entire life.
Charles Johnson
May 8, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Dean went off the deep end in Valdez in ‘16 and should have been committed to a mental institution years ago as his behavior became more and more dangerous and bizarre. His wife left and divorced him because he was abusive and dangerous.
Dean was always all about Dean and did many shady things in Valdez. He left his clients high and dry in the spring of ‘19 as he had burnt every bridge he had with the heli companies and could provide guiding trips without a helicopter. That’s what happens when you don’t pay your bills. But that didn’t stop him from advertising and taking his clients money that spring. Those folks were out 10’s of thousands of dollars.
It’s so sad that a man was killed before Dean was locked away. He’ll now try and plead insanity to avoid prison.
Lisa
November 9, 2021 at 3:13 am
You know what you did. So own up to it. What happened to make him crazy? It’s the whole of people who had gas lighting intent, realized or not, with smoldering eyes of jealousy. I have paid attention to his wife. Did she have bruises on her arms? Of course. Did she have to fix her broken nose herself after work boots were taken to her rib cage because she asked to bring her a soda pop? And was not allowed to get help? There’s a line to abuse. She was also an aristocrat. And she says children need to get a mental health check every year? Is that only because she’s afraid of her kids inheriting a mental illness. Why not adults? They also need to get mental health checks by her standards. So why is she afraid of getting one every year if she isn’t a little cooky. Youd have to be to be with Dean. It to try to keep up with him. I’m pissed at all of you people for not saying. Hey are you okay? Can I get you anything? And actually mean it. Why would he want to take his daughter with him ? Because he would have been saving her the pain he was experiencing to bring him to the point he wanted to commit suicide. Not saying it’s not a twisted way to think, but he knew that so he didn’t let it keep him. But for a man so full of life to feel so much misery like that, only tells me one thing. Every single one of you, even his competition, meant the world to him. That lives were everything to him. And the back stabbing, whispering, and gossiping actually shocked him and scared him more then any mountain could. Because he felt so deeply for everyone he ever met. And that sh!t hurts when nobody taught you that they actually need your guidance on how to be a decent human and to show him how to teach you empathy compassion and a general respect for all life this great earth has given. Your life is a miracle, the fact that you can breath is a miracle. Being thankful and showing kindness and empathy, and building up any life to thrive,is your obligation for the miracle of your existence. And it is the only thing asked of you in return for giving you life.
Nils Gram
May 10, 2020 at 9:32 am
Thanks Charles. That’s the most comprehensive and credible account of what’s happened with Dean I’ve heard. The stories of him burning customers started coming out shortly after he went into business. It makes me wonder if it was ever a very functional operation.
Jack Hennesey
May 11, 2020 at 9:25 am
I put together a group for a PRIVATE heli-ski with H20 (Dean) trip back in 2002. We paid around $40k up front for a PRIVATE helicopter for 6 days. When we got to Valdeze Dean informed us that he could only “find” one helicopter so instead of a private bird we would be sharing one with FOUR OTHER GROUPS. He had known this weeks before we arrived, but didn’t tell us. No refund, no discount, no apology.
I was beyond pissed. Instead of a private trip we had to wait for hours between runs for the other four groups to ski. Then one of the kooks in another group kicked a hole in the side of the helicopter while trying to get the snow off his boots and the pilot, super pissed off, flew back to base for several hours to try to fix the hole while we waited up in the mountains in zero degree temps.
We didn’t get close to our ‘guaranteed’ vertical, but when I approached Dean for a refund he actually tried to charge us MORE, saying that we had received the “VIP” tour since we had a “free” picnic dinner at his office one night.
I heard myriad more stories similar to ours over the years, and when I heard of this latest fiasco i wasn’t in the lease bit surprised. Dean was (is) a sleezebag in his business dealings, and apparently his personal life as well.
Scott Watson
May 21, 2020 at 11:24 pm
I grew up with Dean and lived just down the street from his family. We were friends and competitors. He is definitely fearless. His legendary successes were born of fearlessness. He is no murderer.
Ken Carlson
May 23, 2020 at 12:12 pm
Wow. Just…. wow! I never followed Dean’s career or his life after high school (although I still occasionally hear abt his brother), so all this is tripping me out: weird, amazing, & strange. We went to school together as kids in LA. Yep, he was small & scrappy, but seemingly indestructible, uncontrollable, a little crazy, & kind of a trouble-maker. You never imagine something wild as all this (highs & lows) happening to someone you know. He always seemed a bit… unhinged as a kid. Different. Now it seems he’s truly lost it.
p.s. There’s a name I haven’t seen or heard in 30 years: Nils Gram
Marie Schenk
September 7, 2020 at 7:43 pm
I was close to Dean for several months in 2019. From all I could see he was the “All American goodguy” out to help anyone in need.
I know he would not shoot anyone unless it was to defend his life (or that of someone else)
Something isn’t right here. Dean is not a murderer…and what would the motive be?
Lisa
November 9, 2021 at 3:17 am
Thank you,!
ZeeAnn
February 24, 2021 at 8:08 am
Hey Ken Carlson,
I’m just learning about all this with Dean. I saw your name and wanted to say hello. This certainly seems to have links to CTE and mental illness.
I hope all is well with you!
Ken Carlson
May 23, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Wow. Just…. wow! I never followed Dean’s career or his life after high school (although I still occasionally hear abt his brother), so all this is tripping me out: weird, amazing, & strange. We went to school together as kids in LA. Yep, he was small & scrappy, but seemingly indestructible, uncontrollable, a little crazy, & kind of a trouble-maker. You never imagine something wild as all this (highs & lows) happening to someone you know. He always seemed a bit… unhinged as a kid. Different. Now it seems he’s truly lost it.
El LL
June 7, 2020 at 6:37 pm
What a tale this is. I just hope it doesn’t end up as some ridiculous Lifetime debacle.
I remember Dean and his brother, along with several other unique LA, WR, Pajarito and Barranca Mesa personalities in the early 80s. There was always some thing a little unusual about Dean and he stood his ground for who he was. I knew this aspect would follow him into adulthood but he was always kind to me, although I knew he could be a bully.
I wonder if his current mental status is the result of too much too many of the organic chemistry many of us utilized in the misty Jemez mountains. Or is this adult onset schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder with extreme paranoia? Or a combination of all? Anyone from LA remembers Gregg McQ who went completely mad from too much of the good times; a man with no boundaries and no one who really cared.
When I read this story in ABQ Journal I simply couldn’t grasp it as real. I can still see this gap toothed kid racing down the mountain, I can hear that scratchy rugged voice talking about the next adventure. I wonder if he sits in a jail cell right now awaiting the system of justice to spin the wheel? Or is he out on bail going more mad with his thoughts?
I watched the YouTube manifesto-type discussions about his conspiracist woes. And from this article it would appear he still carries that fear with him.
Either way two lives are now lost, two families grieving. And given the questionable state of Dean’s mind, maybe no one will ever be able to clarify what happened out there near old San Ysidro.
Man… I hope he can find his way. I hope he can heal. He’s a brave heart for sure. I wish him well.
Christine
May 30, 2020 at 8:09 pm
he is a liar….I am a longtime friend of Mr Arriola.
Cummings is a murderer. how sad that he killed a great person….let’s do a ploy to blame everyone except himself. I hope he stays in jail for a very long time.
None
June 6, 2020 at 4:34 pm
I wish some of these people would’ve spoken up to the authorities about doing before he took an innocent man’s life he is a murderer and a liar and I hope he rots in jail he does not need to be out in the public because if he could kill an innocent man over property that he was trying to purchase so he can start a new life and be off the grid he has destroyed our family for life
Get the facts Straight
June 6, 2020 at 11:19 pm
All of you “so called friends” did a disservice to this man! You all claim he was a friend and Many knew he was struggling with some sort of mental illness yet never sought to help… YOU SHOULD ALL BE ASHAMED!
This “story” of the encounter at hand just proves how much of a nut Job Cumming really is. All of you claiming he is “no murderer” are just as delusional. An innocent man was brutally murdered over property or according to this article
“Are you involved with this [expletive]? Are these nano-pawns on your property?” That’s when he said Arriola attacked him”
seriously… That statement in itself sounds absolutely CRAZY!
Now let’s look at the evidence, the article just stated he was in Arriola’s trailer, yet he had a trailer of his own on the property, what need would he have to be in the victims house?
Secondly, and please correct me if you find otherwise, Barbary Sheep are not typically found in the area, which would make his claim for having the riffle false.
And my last argument, at the very top of this article is a mug shot of Cummings, if he had struggled with Arriola, as he claims, wouldn’t he have at least some sort of mark on his face especially considering:
“Arriola who struck him several times and was jamming a canister of chemicals in his face.“I just started pulling the trigger,” said Cummings, who admits he was “kind of out of it” by then because of the chemicals and being struck.”
His claims are without a doubt delusional… there are also many other factors that were not stated in this article, but were revealed in court during one of Cumming appearances that now proves this truly was COLD BLOODED MURDER!
Dean Cummings should have been put away years ago it’s unfortunate that an innocent man lost his life. I truly hope Justice is served and this coward pays the price for his senseless actions…
930RUF
June 30, 2020 at 2:28 am
People did try to help. His wife tried to find him help, His family tried to find him help, Many of his his friends tried to find him help. Our system does not allow help for people who don’t want it!
Just saying
July 3, 2020 at 6:02 pm
I called law enforcement a couple of times and told them I thought he was dangerous, I was told if he hadn’t committed a crime then it’s not against the law to be crazy
Joel Serra
August 12, 2020 at 11:05 am
Several of Dean’s friends tried desperately to get him to mental health providers over the past 5 years. He took our efforts as further proof of the conspiracy against him. In America, you can be crazy as long as you don’t hurt anyone or threaten harm with the present capacity to do so. Dean always seemed to know just how far he could push that line without getting arrested. His threats were oblique and non-specific – to me, when I refused to help him fight the conspirators: “You’re going down.”(I had offered to take him to a psychiatrist and pay the bill). The threat was not specific enough for the FBI. What I find incomprehensible: that a person with such obvious mental health issues was able to get an assault rifle.
Long lost friend
June 10, 2020 at 12:24 am
I’ve known Dean for over 30 years, growing up in Los Alamos, NM. I dated him. He was very violent, if you pissed dean off..watch out!! Hed breath real hard flaring his nose pumping his fist. It was scary. N after I was always afraid of him. Although hes a awesome skier!! Done movies, kayak commercial for time ex..keeps on ticking. I thought he had a good life!! Married w children n making his dream come true!! He blocked me n my bf on fb so I wasn’t able to follow him , but honestly, this doesn’t surprise me at all. I knew that temper would FINALLY get him. Treat others as you would like to be treated right?? God he really ripped off alot of people!! N drinking alcohol and doing drugs!!! Ha!! I’ve seen it a million times. We were young then born fires etc. But you can’t tell me he stopped?? Whered all that $$ go?? Wow I’m super sad I always though paul,skipper, everyone was happy, he made such a great life in Alaska. He was going to Olympics, but hurt his knee that year. Bummer for all of us!! This saddens me so much!!I JUST FOUND OUT!! WHAT A TRIP. THAT’S ANOTHER THING WE ALLLLLL DID LSD BACK IN DA DAY. I WISH THE BEST FOR U JERK!! GET SOME HELP. NO WONDER THEY WANTED YOU OUT. CONSPIRACY?? I THINK NOT!!! GOOD LUCK, BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU TOOK A HUMANS LIFE!! IN THIS DAY THATS JUST WRONG. I KNOW DEAN
JUST KICK HIS ASS BROTHER!! WTHECK?? YOU NEED HELP!! ALWAYS HAVE!! MEANIE!!
Long lost friend
June 10, 2020 at 12:26 am
Is he still locked up??
Chris Landers
July 21, 2020 at 7:19 pm
yes he is and I hope he remains there forever
Long lost friend
June 10, 2020 at 12:32 am
All of los Alamos is very sad for you dean!!! Wow when u do things u always go to the extreme, always have always will. Extremist!! Wow dude really, knowing you, why did u take a life, why didn’t you just kick his ass? Look atcha now brother! Praying u get some help. Sound delusional!! This is really a trip gone bad when we all thought you were kicking ass!! Praying. U find the lord you never did when I hung with you!! Amen to the heavens sending Angel’s your way!!
Just some insight
June 11, 2020 at 1:18 pm
There are so many things I would like to say and did write it down however, it was not approved for this thread…. Dean Cummings is a liar and his encounter of the entire incident is not supported by the evidence! I have been in the court room and have heard the evidence against him
El LL
June 12, 2020 at 11:05 am
Well, looks like there was a competency hearing and they transported him to Las Vegas NM Behavioral Health facility. Perhaps now he will finally get some help and come to grips with what has really happened. Mental health issues are real and should not be judged nor classified unless by certified actual medical professional.
Long lost friend
June 12, 2020 at 1:29 pm
When was the compepetecy hearing?? As all this dates back so far, its june 12th. Anyone know any new news? See I’m not the only one mentioning parties, lsd etc. He was mean n u didn’t mess with him!! But, what does the judge say? R they going to charge him with murder? Or has he finally truly lost his darn mind? Yes!!!! Behavioral health is very important, that NM. has noooo help for!! So going to vegas! Wow is a scary thing!! They will loose the keys!!! I’m praying for him. That he gets help n finds the lord. But now?? Vegas?? All hes going to get is meds n a straight jacket!! Please anyone else who knows anything else about him. N his ” stay” please post. When did he go there??? Truly sad bro!! The whole thing is ridiculous!!! All this time!! I and many others thought he was living the dream. Paul, his bf in la, had passed away way b4 he went to Alaska, I hope hes watching after you. This whole thing freaks me out!!!
CJ
June 29, 2020 at 6:49 pm
Praying for Mr Arriola and his family but also for Dean and his family. Dean is alive but he isn’t Dean anymore and hasn’t been for many years. Deano is greatly missed by all those who love and respect him but the bereavement began many years ago. Dean could not accept the possibility he needed help with his mental health. He was absolutely convinced, and still is, that bad actors were operating in all the institutions he depended on, from his banks, to local government, his kids’ school Pta to neighbors, the utilities companies, his phone services to the oil delivery man, the kids’ pediatrician, the grocery store…etc . He firmly believes they ALL want his demise. What more could his friends have done that could have prevented this devastating outcome, this taking of a life? Dean wore his fear like a champion battling for his life and his rights. He would get to the bottom of this, he would make things right because that’s what champions do. If you revered Dean, you wanted to believe him, to help him. He accepted the help only to reject it and add those helping to his “list”. He was trapped in a self-destructive vicious circle. For an outdoorsman who thrived in athleticism in the expanses of remote wilderness to be confined in a tiny cell will surely finish the job. My intention is to garner prayers and compassion for all involved. Also, to pause and think of the millions who suffer irreparable damage from the lack of proper mental health services for all in our great country. What more can we do as a society to remove the stigma of seeking mental health? We work out our bodies, we seek proper nutrition but we refuse mental heath assistance for ourselves, or hide that we receive it or have no legal means to impose it on loved ones. Our jails are filled with its victims. Next time you pass by a stranger screaming his agony on a street corner, what will you do? Next time you realize a loved one is trapped in poor mental health, or addiction what will you do? Next time someone says you need a shrink what will you do?
Rob Evans
July 31, 2020 at 10:23 pm
When I knew Dean in the late 80’s through the early 90’s he was a man of integrity and fairness, a stand up guy.
E
August 22, 2020 at 9:20 pm
I never knew Dean personally but grew up watching his exploits on all the VHS and later DVD films that pro skiers put out each fall to stoke our love for mountains and snow. This is a sad story.
I work in mental health now and he was clearly suffering some pretty serious psychosis. It’s too bad for him and the victim and their families Dean couldn’t be treated sooner.
Lars
November 22, 2020 at 4:15 pm
I’ve known Dean since I was 7 years old. His house was right up the street from mine and we hung around daily. I use to ski with him when we were kids, along with hiking, swimming, bike riding, rock climbing etc etc.
Dean is 4 years older than me and through my childhood has always looked after me, taught me, encouraged me and ultimately helped me deal with much tragedy in my life. It makes me a bit sick to see some people on this feed demonizing him. Sure Dean had problems when we were kids, but many children did growing up in Los Alamos.
It is certainly a tragedy what has happened on all accounts and I pray for healing for all who are involved.
Lisa
November 9, 2021 at 3:29 am
Hey Lars.
Scott Watson
November 24, 2020 at 12:32 am
Does anyone have an update? I was in regular contact with Dean at SCDC when, “suddenly” he disappeared. No institution in New Mexico claims to be holding him. No federal institution claims to be holding him. San Miguel never claimed to be holding him even though Dean called me from that location. Something smells.
-Scott W.
El LL
November 27, 2020 at 9:03 am
Scott,
Looks like dean is receiving treatment and evaluation to determine if he’d be competent to stand trial. He might still be in las vegas facility. NMCourt records show that was last entry along with substitute for counsel. Dean will likely remain out of society for quite some time ahead. I’m sure his family is devestated and hoping for us to respect their privacy. Hopefully dean is facing his demon and can come clean. And the world turns…
David O. Williams
December 1, 2020 at 4:40 pm
District Attorney Lemuel Martinez provided the following update on Dec. 1, 2020: “The defendant has raised competency in this case and he was ordered to the New Mexico Behavioral [Health] Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to be treated to competency, so the case is stayed and nothing is going on or can go on until his competency is determined.”
Not so fond.....
December 14, 2020 at 2:24 pm
He was an amazingly talented athlete all the boys wanted to be like. I didn’t. Once during lunch hour in 5th grade he’d made some thing that shot a long sharp needle that penetrated deep, drew blood, and hurt horribly. I was one of Deans prey. I evaded him him best I could. Some kid told. The principal pulled me in over the large blood spots on my shirt. Dean whispered he’d kill me on the way to the office. Unlike a typical bully, Dean didn’t make petty threats. I lied to the principal. Dean walked. It happened a lot.
PJ
January 6, 2021 at 4:40 pm
I knew Dean well, not as he was growing up but during a period of several years prior to his illness accelerating. I worked for him in a variety of capacities, have been to a dozen strip clubs in various states partying with him ( business in his mind) stood shoulder to shoulder with him after he started a fight in a bar, lived with him, dozens of training sessions, skied crazy lines, dodged avalanches, attended dozens of conferences and trade shows, fishing, hunting in AK, was even in a tv commercial with him.
Dean is not a victim here. His wife and kids are, and absolutely undeserving of this. Dean is at times an amazing guy, at other times absolutely terrifying and irrational, these are traits of his illness. Many tried to help him, and said this could happen, the fault is in the system. Dean should never be allowed to walk free again, he is unpredictably dangerous, this has been proven. Everyone touched by this event should not be seeking vengeance but be inspired to change our views on mental health and our approach to treatment so that tragedies such of this can be avoided rather than debated about. Dean killed a man, but the failure of our system to address his illness for years despite many attempts, loaded the gun.
This article is terribly written and poorly researched by the way.
David O. Williams
January 7, 2021 at 12:03 pm
PJ, I appreciate your message on mental health and the failures of our system. I’ve written a great deal about the lack of behavioral health services and treatment in ski towns and rural mountain areas and have friends who have suffered as a result of those ongoing failures. It’s a national problem but one that’s especially accute in places where everyone’s supposed to happy and living an amazing life. Thanks for reading.
David O. Williams
January 7, 2021 at 1:24 pm
I also want to make sure everyone reading this story and commenting on Dean also checks out this mental health piece I wrote over the holidays. It contains links to behaviorial health articles I wrote for the latest issue of Vail Health Magazine, as well as contacts locally and statewide for anyone needing help: https://www.realvail.com/holidays-highlight-critical-issue-of-mental-health-in-colorado-mountain-towns/a9683/
JD
February 22, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Read this if you want a well-researched and written piece about the downfall of Dean and the failure of our institutions to help people w/ mental health issues.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2421062/dean-cummings
David O. Williams
February 22, 2021 at 6:03 pm
Thanks for sharing, JD. Devon and Outside did a great job on this story, especially the interviews with Karen Cummings and Guillermo Arriola’s family. Cases like this are why I closely covered Colorado’s passage of a red-flag law in 2019, which the Vail police chief supported after a fatal shooting at a West Vail bar by a man with a history of mental illness and our sheriff politicized by calling it “ludicrous” and going on FOX News: https://www.vaildaily.com/news/crime/eagle-county-sheriff-james-van-beek-opposes-colorado-new-red-flag-gun-law/
And our new congresswoman for this district was protesting Colorado’s new red-flag law when photographed with militia members and white supremacist groups in Denver in 2019: https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2019/12/colorado-legislators-joined-extremist-groups-for-a-we-will-not-comply-rally-against-red-flag-law/20021/
There’s a great deal of resistance to taking away someone’s guns in the West.
Carl
February 25, 2021 at 3:34 pm
The Red Flag Law can do a lot of good, saving lives even. However, as much good as it can bring it can also be abused terribly. Last I knew there is no recourse one can take when they feel the law has been abused.
ale bigLio
February 27, 2021 at 8:30 pm
I don’t know Dean but I read all the articles and the comments. I live in another country, where mental health cases are identified, monitored and treated from the early age, no always successfully, it’s a difficult issue. To me, from professional and family experiences, it sounds like a typical mental health case. One that started early in childhood, I don’t want to blame the parents but they were the first that should’ve done something when it’s most effective, in the formative years. Unless they were totally blind, I cannot believe they didn’t realize the kid needed help, yes, institutions should’ve helped, but also the family, if not dysfunctional, should’ve been the first stop in helping him. He’s not totally blameless of course, he should’ve asked and accepted help.. all in all a total tragedy.
Smallbutbrave
March 24, 2021 at 1:38 am
I never knew Dean, but lived in Valdez before he did. Valdez is a beautiful place but seems to be a catalyst for mental illness. People who thrive there get out of town a lot, take vacations, stay busy, find hobbies, stay connected, grounded…on the dark side, a lot of residents can seem like shallow, gossipy narrow minded sycophants with a big appetites for schadenfreude. I remember being in a bad place mentally as a teenager and not really supported much, but a lot of people seemed to have problems there. Busy-body behavior was a norm, people drank a lot, did drugs,lots of people had problems. I get the impression that Dean stayed longer than his existing condition could handle and wore out his welcome. It was while I lived there that I first heard the saying “ whoever has the gold makes the rules”, a saying by which many in that town may abide by.
Robert
April 2, 2021 at 8:50 pm
I’m a skier which is how I got turned onto this story . I don’t know Dean and I’m glad I don’t . I have been an ER nurse for over a decade which includes helping treat people in mental health crisis .This guy is obviously mentally ill and a danger to society. Many times the “adult onset “ mental illness is pretty extreme and there are many warning signs along the way in the teen years and early adulthood that are classic precursors to the big break . It sounds from the comments from peers that this is confirmed. Too bad this guy was able to hurt so many financially with his BS “Heli
operation “ and hurt so many such as his family and those unfortunate enough to actually care about him witnessing his destruction. Sounds like in the end he became a total TURD 💩. Unfortunately terminal TURDNess at this point .
Lisa
November 9, 2021 at 3:49 am
Wow, and your a health professional? You should be fired! In don’t care if your taking about Jack the ripper. If you can’t fairly treat all people and try to bring them to health. Go be a jailer with that attitude.
MG
May 25, 2021 at 8:59 pm
Prayers and condolences to Mr. Arriola and his family. I was with Dean for about nine years he was an important part of our lives. I will always be grateful to him because he had a positive impact on my children. Dean got all three of us out in nature. We hiked, biked, camped, skied, kayaked, rock climbed..etc. He inspired us to believe in ourselves with a you can do it attitude. He would say to me, don’t worry open up your arms and breathe in this beautiful day. He encouraged me in all my endeavors. We had our share of arguments but he never threatened me verbally or physically. My family and work are here so although he asked us to move to Alaska with him I declined. Out of respect for his marriage and children we had very little contact over the last 20 years. When we spent some time together after his divorce he was so changed…and a few of his close friends let me know what had been going on with him. I believe that what some of Dean has said is true and real however somewhere along the way it became difficult for him to distinguish between friend and foe. I grieve for Dean and I pray for him and all those affected by this tragic turn of events.
Just Saying
September 9, 2021 at 8:00 pm
So what was the verdict/ sentence? Anyone know where he is now?
David O. Williams
January 24, 2022 at 6:34 pm
Pre-trial interviews and hearings are scheduled for next month.
karl richter
January 18, 2022 at 8:36 pm
I flew for H2O in 2008 (Evergreen Helicopters) and sad to say; was a huge mistake. Dean’s ego and shabby treatment of his staff and trainees (who craved to become ski guides) was sickening and disgusting to be around. One of the most narcissist customers I ever worked for. Karen (his wife) was a perfect match. Still, I was shocked that he became a murderer.
David O. Williams
January 24, 2022 at 6:35 pm
Allegedly.
Donna
April 9, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Sad story Dean…
we met in Telluride, I moved into his room at Doug’s, he moved in his van…..we were close for years, and closer when I moved back to NH… but I can’t write the details.
Lifetime channel movie for sure!
I hope you find your spark again someday Dean 💕 sad Mr. Arriola died before you got the help you needed
Always,
D-
Donna
April 9, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Dean…. I can’t write our ‘crazy’ story….
This is so sad…
Always,
💕Donna
Dina
April 14, 2022 at 11:09 am
No one is taking into account that things were happening to my friend!!! Think what you will but it’s all pretty easy to verify if you go to the VPD crime logs you’ll see there are others as well making the same complaints to law enforcement about being harassed by military type people. I know for a fact that other heli ski operators were sabotaging his things, and that the whisper treatment that he and others get is brutal. There’s someone that fled with only a suitcase… I’ve endured my fair share. I was poisoned in my hotel. It was closed I was the only one staying there and big huge clouds of gas would come up through the drains and it was toxic, it burned your eyes, nose, lungs I have lasting effects from this it happened more than once. I could go on but it seems that everyone has decided he’s nuts. I know I’m not crazy I also know that if you do enough digging you’ll find all the answers to the questions. He wasn’t crazy he was put on a slow train to crazy town and there was no getting off. There are 2 factions fighting for the town old and new and new doesn’t play fair. And when they want you gone or replaced or want your property they’re going to make it happen as the sitting mayor at the time quietly said it can be done but you need a string stomach to do it. And they did it. I haven’t cracked and I don’t intend to but when I leave this town after over 30 years they’re going to know that I’m not some crazy person that got my bell rung to many times going down a mountain and that they can whisper whatever they want to about me. The truth is on my side and I have the evidence to back it up. Like Dean I’m dyslexic not stupid but unlike Dean I have the patience to make sure that my info is 100% correct before I connect the dots. Dean was a wonderful father to his children, you always saw him with them. He was kind, he was generous, and he helped put winter tourism on the map in Valdez. He was working on a large project to bring new things to do here but the last I saw the city of Valdez laid claim to his years of research and hard work. They took his dream, his business, his sanity, and now sadly the one thing he treasured most his family and his freedom to explore the outdoors as a guide and caretaker of the land he loved. I’m heartbroken for the gentleman who was killed that his family must now carry on without him but my friend Dean is not a liar, there’s way more I could share but that’s for him to decide. My heart tells me he would rather go to jail than destroy anyone else’s life.
El L
July 27, 2022 at 9:58 pm
Are there any updates on Dean Cummings trial? Nothing in the local media. Wondering if he’s gone through assessments and ready for court ?
David O. Williams
July 28, 2022 at 5:48 pm
I posted this update a week or so ago: https://www.realvail.com/murder-trial-of-alaska-extreme-skier-cummings-moved-to-november/a13752/
David O. Williams
November 1, 2022 at 3:27 pm
I was not required to testify (both parties stipulated to content of this phone interview). The jury has been selected and the trial has started. It’s being streamed here: https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/dean-cummings/watch-live-skier-murder-trial-in-new-mexico/
Grant
November 8, 2022 at 4:23 pm
Watch Dean’s testimony. He sounded lucid and credible. Arriola, a man who was known to have a violent temper while drinking, was drunk and high on cocaine when he got into a physical altercation with Cummings, which resulted in a fight for the 556 rifle. None of the crazy, paranoid theories reported both in this article and in the Outside article were mentioned. It was a real estate transaction that had soured and Arriola was the aggressor. Watch the reenactment scene that played out during Cumming’s testimony. Jaw dropping.
Grant
November 8, 2022 at 5:18 pm
And Dean Cummings was acquitted on all charges. Calls into question all of these claims that he was crazy, delusional, or paranoid.
David O. Williams
November 8, 2022 at 6:26 pm
I made no such claims in this story — merely reported very accurately what Dean told me in a jailhouse phone interview back in 2020.
David O. Williams
November 8, 2022 at 6:20 pm
On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, Dean Cummings was found not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. His attorneys successfully argued he shot and killed Guillermo Arriola in self-defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgNpF7fTLg