Among his peers in the skiing community, he was known as “Cliff Huckstable,” the guy who would ski the big lines others would never dare and stick the landings of 400-foot jumps — with the aid of a parachute.
Shane McConkey, one of the modern skiing world’s most innovative, daring and talented, died Thursday after a midair mishap in the Dolomite mountains of Italy. He was 39.
“It will be a long, long time before our sport experiences another person like him,” said friend and fellow professional skier Chris Anthony of Vail. “As far as skiing goes, he’s got to be in the top 10 most important and influential people in our industry.”
McConkey, who skied at the University of Colorado before moving to Vail to compete on the Pro Mogul Tour and deliver pizza in the early 1990s, touched almost every aspect of the sport. From gates to the X Games, big mountain to bumps, McConkey managed to make his mark on virtually every discipline.
But it was his innovation as an early advocate and designer of wide powder skis with radical reverse-camber designs that will define much of his legacy in the industry. As a skier, McConkey’s radical pursuit of the hybrid sport of ski-BASE is what will be remembered most.
A pioneer of ski-BASE — essentially skiing off of massive cliffs with a parachute — McConkey had more than 700 successful jumps on his résumé. Ultimately, the dangerous discipline would be his undoing.
The Red Bull-sponsored athlete experienced problems in the air after launching from a cliff in the Dolomites on Thursday and never managed to deploy his parachute. Witnesses filming the stunt for Matchstick Productions and Red Bull said he was unable to release one of his skis after doing a double back flip off a cliff standing more than 400 feet, sending him into an uncontrollable spin. According to a statement from Red Bull, Italian emergency responders arrived within minutes and pronounced him dead at the scene.
“A lot of people think it’s crazy, but a lot of people know and aspire to do those kinds of things themselves,” said Seth Morrison, another pro skiing star. who worked with McConkey in films and with sponsor, K2 Skis. “I’ve watched so many people have their entire ski experience be changed by his innovation, whether it was the Pontoons and rockered skis or doing these James Bond-style stunts,” said Seth Morrison, another pro skiing star.
Included among hismany accolades collected through his career, McConkey was listed by Skiing Magazine as the top skier in North America and was three times voted the skier of the year by readers of Powder magazine. He was instrumental in the creation of the International Free Skiing Association and won the ISFA big mountain tour twice.
McConkey lived and trained at Squaw Valley, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Sherry, and 3-year-old daughter, Ayla.
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
