Shane McConkey (December 30, 1969 – March 26, 2009) was a professional

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...

and

BASE jumper BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

. He was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and eventually based himself in

Olympic Valley, California Olympic Valley (historically and informally known as Squaw Valley) is an unincorporated community located in Placer County, California, United States. It lies northwest of Tahoe City along California State Highway 89 on the banks of the Truckee ...

. Due to an itinerant childhood, he never identified with a single place, but he was said to have come from

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. It was from here that he started his professional skiing career. He did so after dropping out of the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

to pursue his dreams.

Biography

McConkey won numerous awards and competitions. He started as a competitive ski racer but moved on to be featured in a long line of

extreme skiing Extreme skiing is a form of skiing performed on long, steep (typically from 45 to 60+ degrees, or grades of 100 to 170 percent) slopes in mountainous terrain. The French coined the term 'Le Ski Extreme' in the 1970s. The first practitioners incl ...

movies. McConkey was known for combining

BASE jumping BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

with skiing, as seen in such feats as skiing into a BASE jump off the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

. McConkey went to Burke Mountain Academy. He was also known for his contributions to ski design, notably being the father of reverse

sidecut Ski geometry is the shape of the ski. Described in the direction of travel, the front of the ski, typically pointed or rounded, is the tip, the middle is the waist and the rear is the tail. Skis have four aspects that define their basic performan ...

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 A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope (called a ''haul rope'') that is strung between two (o ...

and ski area at

Park City Mountain Resort Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) is a ski resort in the western United States in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. Park City, as the ski resort and area is known, contains several training courses for the U.S. Ski Team, includin ...

are named after his father, Jim McConkey, who was an early proponent of extreme skiing in the U.S.
/ref> 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 Daron Louis Rahlves (born June 12, 1973) is a former American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and freestyle skiing, freestyle skier. Biography Born in Walnut Creek, California, Walnut Creek, California, and ...

and Glen Plake.

Death

On March 26, 2009, Shane McConkey died during a ski-BASE jump on the Sass Pordoi, a mountain in the Sella group of the Italian Dolomites. 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.

Career accomplishments

2005: Nominated for Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year, ranked #1 in ''Powder Magazine'' 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

all over Europe, double front flip off the

and got married in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. 2003: Ranked #2 in Powder Magazine’s Reader Poll, completed his first of over 700 BASE jumps. 2002: Ranked #1 in ''Powder Magazine''’s Reader Poll and invented a revolutionary powder ski: The Volant Spatula with reverse camber and reverse

. 2001:

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

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 McConkey ( Irish: Mac Donnachaidh) is an Irish surname. The surname arose in Scotland from the Irish 'Dál Riata' people. Notable people with the surname include: * Bob McConkey (1895–1961), Irish hurler * Charlie McConkey (born 1955), American ...

(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)

The Shane McConkey Award

Started in partnership with th
Shane McConkey Foundation
thi
award was created as part of the annual Wasatch Mountain Film Festival
ref> in Salt Lake City, Utah to honor the best adventure short films of the year.

Award Recipients

* 2015: Stu Thomson - The Ridge * 2016: Jason Piszczor - Without An Image * 2017: Josh Lowell, Nick Rosen, & Peter Mortimer- Dodo's Delight * 2018: Tyler Wilkinson-Ray - The Frozen Road * 2019: Nate Dappen - The Passage * 2020: Tommy Joyce - The Trilogy * 2021: Niobe Thompson - The Long Today * 2022: Tim Jones - Rite of Passage: The Story of the Wurl

References

External links

* (Video of Shane a couple of days before he died.) * * * (Shane's last blog post with pictures of where he died.) * * (Shane McConkey March 2009 interview.) * * (Shane McConkey interview.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:McConkey, Shane 1969 births 2009 deaths Canadian male bloggers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian freeskiers Extreme skiers Sport deaths in Italy Skiers from Vancouver Wingsuit flight deaths