| Mc Conkey
Influential big-mountain skier dies in Italy
McConkey, a BASE jumper with ties to Park City, was filming at the time of his death
by Patrick Parkinson, of the Record staff
Posted: 03/26/2009 09:07:51 PM MDT
Big-mountain skier Shane McConkey, who helped pioneer the combining of skiing with BASE jumping, was killed Thursday while filming a movie segment with Matchstick Productions in the Italian Dolomites.
McConkey's father, Jim McConkey, was the first ski-school director at Park City Mountain Resort in the 1960s, and the namesake for the resort's McConkey's chairlift, Shane McConkey's mother, Glenn McConkey said in a telephone interview.
Her son reportedly experienced problems in the air after launching off a cliff with expectations of deploying a parachute to float safely to the ground, the Web site espn.go.com reported Thursday.
McConkey had made some 700-plus successful BASE jumps prior to his death, the Web site reported. "He just loved the outdoors and just loved being an adventurer," Glenn McConkey said about her 39-year-old son. "I didn't worry. I believed that he should take advantage of every day, and make the best of it."
McConkey lived in Northern California and is survived by his wife and four-year-old daughter, Glenn McConkey said.
Her son helped pioneer the shaped-ski revolution, McConkey said, adding that Shane McConkey was skiing when he was three years old. "He loved the cold," McConkey said. "He just couldn't wait to get out in the cold weather."
Very sad. My prayers go out to his wife and daughter.
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Peace,
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