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51 Comments
- breakerjump, on 07/14/2009, -1/+27I understand what you're trying to say, but I think Shane would disagree. What is "living"? Shane left a daughter behind in pursuit of the extreme, just like Dan Osman did.
The precise reason it's a rush for a human to glide down a slope at 70mph or more, or fly through the air like a bird is because we're not supposed to. I think if you asked Shane to trade his sport for his daughter or his daughter for his sport, he would have chosen the former.
Far too many of these guys leave children and wives behind to grieve. Will I ever put on a wingsuit or parachute and ski off a cliff? No, I'm just not that bad ass. But more to the point, I have a daughter that depends on me, and will for another two decades. So did Shane.
Once you start a family, you really should knock this ***** off.
Regardless, RIP Shane. - inactive, on 07/14/2009, -1/+21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_McConkey
"On March 26, 2009, Shane McConkey died while skiing in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. After performing a double back flip, McConkey intended to glide away in his wingsuit, "a stunt he's executed a number of times," according to a statement from Matchstick Productions, the company whose films McConkey often starred in. But McConkey struggled to release his skis. By the time he got them off, he'd been free-falling for 12 seconds and was too close to the ground for his wingsuit or parachute to do him any good. His parachute did not malfunction, it was never deployed. He died on the scene.[2] An episode of Nitro Circus was dedicated in his memory." - MMusick, on 07/14/2009, -1/+12Damn, that's a shame. I wasn't familiar with McConkey but those jumps are insane.
- fragMasterFlash, on 07/14/2009, -7/+16That dude lived more in one day than most people do in an entire lifetime.
- aralls, on 07/14/2009, -2/+10go back to your crossword puzzles
- AKPatel, on 07/14/2009, -1/+8Here's a compilation of some of his stunts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUfF-kyKdGU
And this one will likely be the most recognizable of his work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0tU3Hy7et8 - snafflepaffle, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6Exactly...
- TDougler, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6I've had the pleasure of meeting Shane at a MSP movie premiere here in Whistler. When he died, it hit the community pretty hard. He was an innovator and a great person. He will always live on through the sport.
- Air420, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6Go mow your lawn.
- s4forum18, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6TAHOE hero. period.
- fotoman607, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4http://shanemcconkey.org/
- Chjoma10, on 07/14/2009, -1/+5"if you have the ability to base jump, and ski incredibly hard lines, then why not?" His death date is one reason. Guy was pretty knar though. Hit the freshy pow hard. RIP Conkster
- Tubal22, on 07/14/2009, -1/+5"Hit the freshy pow hard." That's an understatement. He died.
- vanguardanon, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4It's terrible, it's a tragedy, and it's sad. Having said that, this guy took so many risks with his life that it was nearly bound to happen. Lot's of dads give up their motorcycles and wait to go sky diving until there aren't so many people depending on them. I feel sorry for the people he left behind.
- yocouchdigga, on 07/14/2009, -1/+5Stouffer and NotInMy, you two should be ashamed of yourselves. Remove the parking cones from your asses and STFU.
- NastiN8, on 07/14/2009, -3/+7Guess he enjoyed the "high" of doing these crazy stunts over being a dad to his kid. Sucks for her now.
- farkdog, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4Live by the sword, die by the sword.
- tonks01, on 07/14/2009, -1/+5Go knit your Dr Who scarf.
- thegman3, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3Well here's the thing. Most people that don't participate in such sports have a hard time understanding. I'm a skydiver for the past 9 years and when people ask me why the hell I just out of perfectly good airplanes the answer is because I can, but the reason goes much deeper than that really. For most that participate in these types of sports it's more like a religion and a way of life more than anything else and there is nothing you would rather do and we know and accept the risks associated with such extreme sports.
- d686, on 07/14/2009, -2/+5I get where you are coming from, but I disagree. Where do you draw the line? Can you ski or snowboard after you have a family? Drive a race car? Ride a motorcycle? Statistically, McConkey base jumping was probably safer than many more common, mainstream activities that society wouldn't consider as unsafe-post-children.
There was a famous American skier named Doug Coombs that died not far from me here in France while he was guiding in some crazy terrain. He left a family behind, but because 'extreme' skiing is a bit more mainstream no one said he shouldn't have been doing it, despite the fact quite it claims a fair amount of lives each year. - YourNameHere1, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3I lived in Tahoe and rode squaw from 93 - 97.
All I want to say is that I remember him being the guy doing the HUGE back flips off of chimney chute. That was over 12 years ago. - WonderBoy55, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3I'm 40% Dolomite.
- DeusGear, on 07/14/2009, -2/+5This isn't news. This happened in march, wtf.
- d686, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3Waffles: No, I don't have stats on professional base jumping to compare to motorcycling or snowboarding, but having been involved in the snow/action sports industry for the past 5 years I can guarantee you the pros take many more precautions than the average person. Injuries threaten livelihoods -- they simply can't afford them. They are not dropping like flies compared to the general population of skiers, snowboarders, and motorcyclists, just like race car drivers aren't dropping like flies compared to normal drivers.
- SpeedSteamBoat, on 07/14/2009, -2/+5Wait... you mean skiing off of cliffs is unsafe?
- getlogicated, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3This is what the biggest online freestyle skiing community had to say.
http://newschoolers.com/web/content/news/news_id/2 ...
RIP Shane. - tonks01, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Go Make a Cheese Sandwich Grandad!
- agentR, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2is anyone actually surprised by this? I would imagine that if you jump off enough cliffs you are eventually going to die.
- bigkruge, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2RIP
- markgl, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2I don't think he passed away. He was squashed!
- d686, on 07/14/2009, -1/+3[deleted - double post]
- killerhammy, on 07/14/2009, -3/+5i wasn't a huge fan, but i sure as hell heard of his crazy stunts.
R.I.P, have fun skiing on the clouds of heaven - drewba, on 07/14/2009, -1/+3My favorite Shane segment:
http://community.freeskier.com/videos/video.php?vi ... - WafflesID, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2"Statistically, McConkey base jumping was probably safer than many more common, mainstream activities that society wouldn't consider as unsafe-post-children."
especially "was probably safer"
... I'm sure you have numbers to back that up?
Because there is no ***** way in hell I believe that base jumping is considered safer than ***** snowboarding, racing, riding a motorcycle, etc. - getlogicated, on 07/14/2009, -2/+3Shane McConkey lived life. I'm going to go ahead and guess that when you wake up you go to work, eat lunch at noon, go home, jerk off, go to bed and do it all over again the next day. You are as plain as a ***** cheese sandwich. People like Shane take advantage of what they have been given and there is nothing wrong with that. You on the other hand sit back, play it safe and die a boring, unaccomplished ***** that no one will remember. You should be ashamed of yourself.
- yocouchdigga, on 07/14/2009, -0/+1I still want to try wingsuiting.
- Rikushix, on 07/14/2009, -1/+2On a bus up to Jay Peak in Vermont, I watched one of his ski jumping films. Bloody fantastic. The guy will be missed.
- speedbrown, on 07/14/2009, -2/+3Heavy.
- stouffer, on 07/14/2009, -1/+2why do you think it is unacceptable to be an unaccomplished ***** that no one will remember? think about it. why do you think that is bad? any logical reason? or just because you are pre-programmed by evolution to be competitive? i bet you've never thought about that have you? just what are the reasons you value the things you value? because you've weighed up the pros and cons? or because there are some attitudes and ideas in your brain which have just always been there, and which you've never thought to question or examine or try to understand? you know the answer perfectly well. and just how is unthinkingly following your biological programming like robot an admirable thing to do? it isn't, it's dumb.
- TDougler, on 07/14/2009, -0/+1Saucer Boy!
- getlogicated, on 07/15/2009, -0/+1You think he didn't know the risk? Puhhhhhh LEEEZE. They had her WELL into his professional skiing career. Every time you step in your skis you are taking a gigantic risk. It's not like she was born and the next day he started a career in great white shark noodling.
- FLUX, on 07/14/2009, -2/+3how about his daughter not growing up with a dad but then she always has the cool videos of her dad doing the dumbass stunts that killed him but ill bet that is not much consolation
Ill bet if you could ask him if he would rather be alive and eat the proverbial cheese sandwich or be dead now he would choose the cheese sandwich now that the has seen the alternative - getlogicated, on 07/15/2009, -0/+1Pre-programmed by evolution? Yes I am, and so are you. Doing things better than other is how things get done. It's natural so stop rationalizing your couch sitting behavior.
- anenokoji, on 07/14/2009, -1/+1Well, the real killer is simply driving to the airport. There was a much greater chance of him dying then. He should have just given up driving because he had a kid.
- WafflesID, on 07/14/2009, -2/+2Yeah no *****. Why do we give a ***** about him?
once you have children, you need to start living FOR THEIR well being.
***** him. It was a high risk stunt, and now he left behind a family. - thegman3, on 07/14/2009, -1/+1My understand is that one of his skis failed to release and this sent him into a high speed spinnign total malfunction. Meaning he never pulled his parachute because he was in a high speed spin.
- NotInMyLifetime, on 07/17/2009, -0/+0Yeah, he lived life alright, well for about five minutes.
Love the phrase "passed away... while ski-base jumping".
Yay for stupidity ! - inactive, on 07/14/2009, -0/+0Wow, that first jump I thought he was going to die. Lol. Then I realized what base jumping was. Rofl.
- NotInMyLifetime, on 07/14/2009, -6/+1Yeah, Aralls, Air420 and the Tonks are REAL men.
What's more manly than doing something stupid ?
Hey Alpha guys, how about a little elevator jumping ? Train surfing perhaps ? Russian roulette is particularly non Doctor Who. How about punching a stranger in the street, or taunting tigers ? - Myztry, on 07/14/2009, -9/+4Sad for his daughter though he left a big memory.
Second last thing to go through his mind - doubt. The last thing - his ski. -
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