Shane McConkey

Shane McConkey
Shane McConkey at 2007 BASE Race
Romsdalen, Norway
Personal information
Nickname(s) "Saucer Boy"; "Cliff Huckstable"
Nationality  Canada
Born (1969-12-30)December 30, 1969
Vancouver, British Columbia
Died March 26, 2009(2009-03-26) (aged 39)
Dolomite Mountains, Italy
Sport
Sport Big Mountain, Ski-BASE, Wingsuit flying
Medal record

2001 ESPN Action Sport Awards Skier of the Year

Shane McConkey (December 30, 1969 – March 26, 2009) was a professional skier and BASE jumper. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia,[1] was eventually based in Squaw Valley, California, but because he never identified with a single place due to his itinerant childhood, was "from" Boulder, Colorado, where he started his professional skiing career and attended the University of Colorado Boulder before dropping out of college.[2]

Biography

He won numerous awards and competitions. McConkey started as a competitive ski racer, but moved on to be featured in a long line of extreme skiing movies. McConkey was known for combining BASE jumping with skiing, as seen in such feats as skiing into a BASE jump off the Eiger. McConkey went to Burke Mountain Academy. He was also known for his contributions to ski design, notably being the father of reverse sidecut and reverse camber skis (aka: skis with rocker); first mounting bindings onto water skis for use in Alaska, then with the Volant Spatula and, more recently, the K2 Pontoon ski design. McConkey's high-speed chairlift and ski area at Park City Mountain Resort are named after his father, Jim McConkey, who was an early proponent of extreme skiing in the U.S.[3][4] On April 2, 2011 Shane McConkey was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of fame along with other Tahoe skiers, Daron Rahlves and Glen Plake.

Death

On March 26, 2009, Shane McConkey died while executing a ski-BASE jump in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. One of his skis failed to release, sending him into a spin. After he corrected the problem, it was too late to deploy his parachute. [5]

Career accomplishments

2005: Nominated for Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year, ranked #1 in Powder Magazine's Reader Poll and won Powder Magazine’s Full Throttle Award.

2004: Ranked #2 again in Powder Magazine’s Reader Poll, won Powder Magazine’s Full Throttle award, won Powder Magazine’s Best Helmet Cam award, went ski BASE jumping all over Europe, double front flip off the Eiger and got married in Thailand.

2003: Ranked #2 in Powder Magazine’s Reader Poll, completed his first of over 700 BASE jumps.[6]

2002: Ranked #1 in Powder Magazine’s Reader Poll and invented a revolutionary powder ski: The Volant Spatula with reverse camber and reverse sidecut.

2001: ESPN Action Sport Awards Skier of the Year, Red Bull Ultra Cross’s Big Air Comp - 1st and ranked #1 in Skiing Magazine’s Top 25 skiers in North America.

Competition results

2000:

  • Nea Award Winner - Freeskiing Male
  • Bridge Day Championships - 5th.
  • 3rd Exit Style Winner of Judges Choice Award
  • Gravity Games Big Mtn. Champion, Gravity Games Skiercross - 6th
  • Gravity Games Big Air - 7th
  • X-Games Skiercross - 5th
  • Japan Core Games Skiercross Champion- 3rd.
  • Johnny Moseley Invitational - 3rd.

1999:

  • ESPN X-Games Skier Cross - 2nd.
  • IFSA World Tour of Freeskiing - 5th.
  • US Freeskiing Nationals - 5th
  • World Tour event at Andermatt - 3rd.

1998:

  • IFSA World Tour of Freeskiing Champion- 2nd.
  • European Freeskiing Champion- 2nd.
  • U.S. Freeskiing Nationals - 2nd.
  • Canadian Freeskiing Championships-4th.

1996:

  • IFSA Overall World Tour Champion - Unofficial tour- 4th.
  • European Freeskiing Champion
  • U.S. Freeskiing Championships-4th.
  • World Extreme Skiing Championships-6th.

1995:

  • U.S. National Freeskiing Champion
  • South American Freeskiing Champion
  • Pro Mogul Tour Overall - 16th.
  • 1st seed and Japan Super Mogul - 7th.

1994:

  • South American Freeskiing Champion
  • World Extreme Skiing Championships-2nd
  • Pro Mogul Tour Overall-8th
  • 1st seed and Pro Mogul Tour Event at Copper Mtn. - 1st.

Filmography

  • McConkey (2013)
  • Ultimate Rush (2012)
  • G.N.A.R. (2010)
  • Superheroes of Stokes (2012)
  • In Deep: The Skiing Experience (2009)
  • Claim (2008)
  • Seven Sunny Days (2007)
  • Steep (2007)
  • Push (2006)
  • The Hit List (2005)
  • Warren Miller's Higher Ground (2005)
  • Yearbook (2004)
  • Focused (2003)
  • Immersion (2002)
  • Ski Movie III: The Front Line (2002)
  • Ski Movie 2: High Society (2001)
  • Ski Movie (2000)
  • There's Something About McConkey (2000)
  • Global Storming (1999)
  • Sick Sense (1998)
  • Pura Vida (1997)
  • Fetish (1996)
  • Walls of Freedom (1995)
  • The Tribe (1995)
  • TGR's The Realm (1994)
  • Nick Nixon's Alpine Rapture (1993)
  • Nick Nixon's Ski Theater (1992)

References

  1. ↑ "Vancouver-born extreme skier McConkey killed in Italy". The Vancouver Sun. March 27, 2009. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gifford, Bill (July 2009). "Shane McConkey's Last Run". Men's Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Eric (March 27, 2009). "The powder day of the year?!". Park City Mountain Resort. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  5. ↑ Mutrie, Tim (March 27, 2009). "Statement from JT Holmes". ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  6. ↑ Casimiro, Steve (March 26, 2009). "Skier Shane McConkey Killed BASE-Jumping in Italy". the adventure life. Steve Casimiro. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2012. (Steve Casimiro is the West Coast Editor of National Geographic Adventure.)
  • Bellamy, Steve (March 27, 2009). "We Remember Shane McConkey". The Ski Channel. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2012. (Video of Shane a couple of days before he died.)
  • Gifford, Bill (July–August 2009). "Dying To Fly". Men's Journal. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  • McConkey, Shane (October 2002). "Mental Floss - A guide to the Volant Spatula, the world's greatest powder ski". Fuze Digital Solutions. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  • McConkey, Shane (March 25, 2009). "We nailed the Sassongher line today!". Red Bull North America. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2012. (Shane's last blog post with pictures of where he died.)
  • Porters Tahoe (March 27, 2009). "We will Miss you Shane McConkey....RIP". Porters Tahoe. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  • "Red Bull Air Force Raw Interview - Shane McConkey". Fox Television Stations. March 26, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2012. (Shane McConkey March 2009 interview.)
  • "Shane McConkey - Snowpedia". Storm Mountain Publishing. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  • Stifler, Emily. "The Ski Journal - Issue 2.1 - Shane McConkey". The Ski Journal. Funny Feelings LLC. 2 (1). Retrieved March 11, 2012. (Shane McConkey interview.)
  • "A Tribute To Shane McConkey (1969-2009) - Ski Video". superstoker.com. March 29, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
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