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April 26, 2009
Shane McConkey: R.I.P. — forever an eagle
Long story — and life — cut unexpectedly short: The iconic ski base jumper (above) died as he lived.
Wrote Arnie Wilson in an April 24, 2009 Financial Times obituary, "McConkey’s death at 39 [on March 26, 2009], while filming in the Italian Dolomites, exposed an unexpected danger in a sport already fraught with peril. A mid-air problem getting the bindings of both skis to release before being jettisoned meant that vital seconds were lost between the initial launch and the smooth transition into 'birdman' mode. After jumping and carrying out a 'routine' double back-flip from a 600-metre cliff near the ski resort of Corvara, he was still desperately grappling to release the second ski when he hit the ground, his wingsuit not yet deployed. The unreleased ski would have flipped him upside down and probably sent him into a spin. Had he tried to use his parachute in this position it would have become tangled around the remaining ski and failed to deploy."
April 26, 2009 at 04:01 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Shane for what he did, or what he loved to do. I guess I'm just not cut from the same cloth. If I ask myself if I've lived, I would never measure it by how many times I've put myself into a situation where I almost died, but if I've made some sort of impact on someone's life, in some sort of way. Did I make someone laugh, did I make something easier for someone, or did I help people to understand something that they didn't. Not how many times did I fling my self off of something else at a high speed.
Posted by: Rocketboy | Apr 29, 2009 11:55:24 AM
The point that gets lost on many people is that we will all die.
It's not a unique experience. Many don't want to think about it, but none of us have another alternative in our future.
So when the end comes, the question becomes: 'Have I really lived?'
I think most would agree that Shane McConkey did.
Posted by: Tim | Apr 28, 2009 2:13:49 AM
I've never understood why the people who live 'each day like it's the last' do dangerous things. If I was afraid that today was my last day, I'd probally never leave the house.
Posted by: Rocketboy | Apr 27, 2009 1:31:29 PM
You are right Six. Climbing is perfectly safe if one employs the right equipment and inspects the preexisting hardware first. I've known a few folks that didn't make it back from climbing...the farthest I've fallen was like 15 feet though, because I'm paranoid.
Doing things like this is nutso...but then again, most sports have risks, and often times the reward comes directly from said risk. Moronic, but some people get off on it! I enjoy the fear knowing that I'm perfectly safe 99% of the time I'm doing 'extreme' sports.
Posted by: clifyt | Apr 26, 2009 9:18:26 PM
Those of us who climb rock and mountains find the BASE jumpers fairly well nuts. Climber's gear is there for safety in most standard climbing situations. Under certain, high risk, circumstances double rope technique is employed to add an additional measure of safety. It is argued that, where a climber complete a route without a fall, that the safety of climbing ropes, harnesses, chocks, etc. is superfluous because the climb was completed without reliance upon the safety system.
A BASE Jumper is always at the mercy of his/her equipment. Here, the equipment and the jumper failed with disastrous results. I group bungee jumpers and sky divers into the same lot...people who expressly risk their lives on their equipment. It is far, far more dangerous than climbing.
Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Apr 26, 2009 8:01:26 PM
This man has produced more epinephrine in one run then I have had in my entire life! Very, very few men/women will ever experience this euphoria!
Posted by: Joe Peach | Apr 26, 2009 5:18:38 PM
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