Rock Center
The trails of Squaw Valley, California offer some of the most challenging skiing in the world. Squaw Valley is also the unofficial home of North America's greatest extreme skiers. But recently the definition of extreme has changed and the number of deaths among these skiers has increased.
When it comes to extreme skiing Shane McConkey was considered one of the most influential skiers. However, on March 26, 2009, 39-year-old McConkey's luck ran out. He and fellow extreme skier J.T. Holmes hiked to the top of a mountain deep in the Dolomite Alps of Italy.
McConkey sailed off a 1,300 foot cliff and had trouble releasing his bindings. By the time he opened his parachute it was too late.
Three years later, Rock Center correspondent Natalie Morales met up with McConkey's wife, Sherry, and friend J.T. Holmes, to investigate a cluster of deaths in an extraordinary ski community tucked high in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
Click here to watch Natalie Morales’ full report, ‘The Death Zone.’
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These idiots jump off cliffs, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
If anyone listened to the end of the segment, the word BASIC was mentioned. Yes, our sports are outside the norm but they do not exist without calculation, preparation and thought. Thank you very much to Robb Gaffney, Scott Gaffney, Sherry Smulders McConkey, Jt Holmes and many others for inspiring countless people to pursue their dreams and live life to its fullest. Moving forward as a collective society of action sports enthusiasts, the more we prepare, educate and practice, the SAFER we all shall remain. The High Fives Foundation's Program Service 'B.A.S.I.C.S.' illuminates and provides grounding to these concerns. If you watched this segment by Rock Center with Brian Williams, please take five minutes to delve into how these types of tragedies can be avoided at: http://highfivesfoundation.org/programs/basics.html
Wow, is the fox news crowd here in force today? The ignorant comments are overwhelming. So what if someone decides to be an adrenaline junkie. We live in a FREE country. Glad you can feel big criticizing something you know NOTHING about. Don't worry, we wouldn't pity you if you fell off your parents couch and broke your leg. In our OBESE society encouraging any sort of activity is positive.
Yes, but its idiots like you, who think that there isn't a price for the rest of us. There is. The High Rescue Team at Yosemite, conducts almost 300 rescues a year. Do you think they do it for free? The tax payers have to pay for the failed attempts of these so called adrenaline junkies. You clowns should be made to get a permit that requires you to carry insurance to cover the expenses of your rescues instead of the public having to subsidize your stupidity. If adrenaline is all they want, they should go out and dodge traffic on the freeway. Eventually the law of averages will catch up with them. An no one cares. Its only regretable that it costs the rest of us, and that others are put at risk performing rescues.
That's not entirely accurate. If the rescue is deemed necessary due to negligent activity on the part of the person being rescued, they are responsible for the full cost of the rescue. In many cases, (especially if it involves a helicopter evac) the cost can be in the many tens of thousands.
These idiots jump off cliffs, die, and we're supposed to mourn them? Why don't they just jump into the path of an oncoming tractor trailer for a thrill. Wow!, that was awesome.
You are so ignorant it makes my blood boil. Its a bummer you have never stepped outside your cubicle or taken a stroll outside of your concrete jungle. Maybe one day you'll understand where "extreme skiers" come from in their logic. But until then, understand that you can't understand.
I agree with JohnVoj, these individuals are nothing but adrenaline junkies. They put their lives at risk just for the high they receive from doing it, they might as well just sit at home and play Russian Roulette.
They are NOT just stepping outside their comfort zone, they are deliberately putting their lives at risk unnecessarily. Then the one guy had the gall to say that corporate sponsors were partially to blame, that is like trying to blame auto makers for drunk drivers.
The entire segment would have been better served by attacking such extreme sporting activities as promoting risk taking behavior in young people.
JohnVoj, you forgot some... let me help you.
These idiots drive everywhere they go, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
These idiots sit in offices all day eating snacks, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
These idiots stick cellphones to their ears, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
These idiots chase money all day, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
These idiots go shopping for a hobby, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
These idiots post hateful judgement filled comment on the internet all day, die, and we're supposed to mourn them?
I'm sure there are some more, but I just wanted to say I get your point and I agree with you.
to all of you ignorant losers.
im 15 years old. skiing for 13 years. i do stuff you wouldnt even dream of doing. we are not adrenaline junkies, we are a group of people that share a common love for the sport. Shane was one of the first people to take this sport to a new level.
to me, he is a legend, role model and a pioneer.
A true idiot is someone who criticizes that which he/she knows nothing about. Thanks JohnVoj and others for alerting us to your ignorance.
I just have a general question for the show and one you may be able to search about the extreme skiers episode.
Do these Corporate sponsors take out insurance policies on these Amazing Athletes payable to the corporations themsleves like they do for Mminers or CEO'S?
I'm just very curious.
The athletes did this prior and the corporations support them in their endavors, and in return, represent their product. That is it. The skiers were skiing prior to the sponsors, and will post.
Having just watched your segment, I wondered why "reckless disregard" was not uttered? Were you determined to avoid judgemental terms on purpose? Foolish persons test the limits of physical laws, sometimes surviving, sometimes not. Like the partiers racing into drunkenness, foolishness prevails among today's contestants. Far from being role-models, these remind one of Pied Pipers, leading to the edges of doom? or is it disaster?
Poorly thought out...
Having just read your comment, I wondered why "I'm a insecure hateful buffoon" was not uttered? Were you determined to come off as a judgmental old jerk on purpose? Foolish persons cast judgement upon the lives of others while ignoring their own fear based biases, sometimes in an attempt to seek higher status through their implied intelligence, always without the wisdom of someone having actually lived a full life. Like a internet viewing chair surfer racing into troll-dom, ignorance of the freedoms of life prevail among today's commenter. Far from being wise or intelligent, these remind me of bottom-feeders, leading to the heart of small mindedness? or is it pathetic-ness?
I can understand the thrill - but how heartbreaking to know a young man took these risks - leaving a wife and CHILD behind. To me, that is the purest form of selfishness. What's happening to people ?!? I do also believe the corporations that sponsor this sort of behavior should be boycotted. I don't understand why these people who risk their lives doing dangerous/deadly stunts are perceived as "heroes". I am afraid our country has forgotten who the true heros are in our society. : ( Very sad.
Who do you value as a hero?
Don't we regard our soldiers dying for our country, leaving behind their wives and children, as the 'true heros' of our society? It's only the ones that come back that we ignore. :[ very sad indeed.
Highest heights + being dropped by an aircraft + "never have been skied there before" + weather + all the other things they really don't know ='s DEATH
There is a reason why sports (Olympic to Extreme) are REGULATED !!! I don't blame anyone other than the free spirit that tries what they want to do for a thrill - if a skiier really tries to do something they know is "crazy" or unknown - I really don't think they do it because of Red Bull sponsor or that they drank one that morning
IT NEEDS TO HAVE RULES - JUST LIKE EVERY SPORT - you fly your ASS of a mountain and there is no "out of bounds or runs" - God speed - you are on your own!!!!
So what you're saying is that when you put yourself in a situation of unknown risk, the outcome can be death?
I'm going to contemplate that while I drive to work, on a road with thousands of other people that may be preoccupied texting, mourning the loss of their pet, spilling coffee on their lap, on medications, drunk, and late for work.
It's only because you don't associate driving with thrilling that you fail to see that it is a much bigger risk.
Additionally, these rules that your yelling about, only exist if you apply them. Life has no rules. If a truck is coming straight at you, and you abide by the rules of road and don't cross the solid lines... we'll, at least you had rules to follow.
When I saw the issue that also contained this story, I thought all the stories, including this one, was a parody... Not so. It should have been obvious to me that the world now belongs to the voluntarily insane. I should have known when they sent the message, "If you kill us, we will celebrate." I now understand the label Generation "Why".
I understand both sides of this argument. People need to know that skiers have been jumping from cliffs forever! They did it for free then and still do - not many make big bucks doing this stuff, but if they do, it's their choice. The corporations are not responsible for holding anyone's hand to the fire here. I do, however, think it becomes a selfish choice once you have kids. I personally used to do alot of road riding, but no longer do it because of too many cyclists are dying due to drivers killing them while texting. This is not a risk I am willing to take for the sake of my kids. Again, a personal choice.
@Wongaround: Well said. I too gave up road-riding for the same reason. Too many drivers came too close to killing me.
All you commenters have absolutely no understanding of the sport, to start, it is called free skiing, not extreme skiing. Also for Shane, skiing was not only his job, but his passion and there was nothing he loved more than to go skiing and huck a few cliffs. For all the people calling us skiers selfish and stupid, really? You are more likely to die commuting to work than you are base jumping as long as you know what you are doing, and skiing was Shane's way to support his family and himself. So I hope you ignorant people with no knowledge of our sport stay out of this conversation.
Are you people KIDDING ME? What is your problem? This is a sport that we do for fun. Maybe you are to scared to leave your little apartments in downtown Metropolis but the thing is that this is all for fun. It's called an extreme sport for a reason BECAUSE ITS EXTREME. Obviously people are going to die that's because they are pushing the boundaries of the sport. These people aren't trying to die but bad things happen and you can't control that. The level of ignorance that you are all showing is incredibly offensive. Besides the sport does have rules, in competition, but you can't limit the tricks that these people are doing or else the sport will go absolutely no where. Have you seen an edit of freeskiers in action? My guess is no. Look up "Tom Wallisch a Walk in the Park" or JP Auclair's segment from All.I.Can the stuff that these people do is amazing! Not something that all you informed people should be hating on and disrespecting. The way that you talk is incredibly rude. Do you think that Shane McConkey's wife would be happy to see you talk about her husband like this? NO. You should all be ashamed she still loves to ski even though it is the same sport that her husband died doing. Please take a step back to actually see what the sport is about before ruthlessly hating on it and the athletes involved. Thanks.
Tom Wallisch? Are you kidding? As one of the pioneers of snowboarding, before it was called "snowboarding", I can say that you prove the point... just not yours. Thanks.
Tom Wallisch? The best skier in the game with the most style? I don't understand how I prove your point. And if you actually are such a "pioneer" then how can you say these things about a sport that parallels yours so closely?
No personal offense meant. I'm just saying that I realize that people without the necessary training and skill will imitate those that have skill but seek fame. It's ultimately deadly and we have a responsibility to recognize and respond to that.
That's the only way that the sport can continue to progress, most mountains now have restrictions about who is allowed in the terrain parks and there are special passes to be able to enter these areas of the mountain in order to decrease the amount of unskilled skiers and boarders in the parks. I agree that if kids just go out and attempt to huck some sort of double flip this is dangerous and reckless ability. But what more can we really do? It's personal choice, it's called freeskiing for a reason because it's about the freedom to do what you want and have fun! Warning signs are posted all over the mountain and if people choose not to heed them it is ultimately their fault.
I understand you. Do you have children? If so, you may remember that the first time they imitated you said, "Holy crap... they haven't trained nearly enough to be up for that challenge!" Hopefully, you were wrong. The personal challenge of cutting a line where no one else has been should remain just that... personal, private, and a solitary experience. I don't want people to die because they saw ME do something crazy, like hitting 60-plus on a skateboard... just before the races locked and I became a temporary meatball. Fortunately, there were only a couple of witnesses. There's the reason that snowboarding became suddenly more appealing. That, and my subsequent and lingering injuries. Far more people have died free-running, free-skiing, and free-boarding than just what is indicated here and their loss is a loss to all the world and not just to the sport. Just to let you know, I will be bowing out of this thread as I don't want to appear inflammatory to anyone. I will be watching subsequent comments with interest and respect, though.
I respect your decision to bow out but I think that it would never be your fault in particular. If someone isn't doing the tricks then someone else will. There will always be someone that wants to try and push any sport. More people die driving every day than skiing and yet we're still allowed to drive. I don't have children, not yet, and thank god hahaha but I can believe you when you say its a sobering experience to watch them try something they may not be ready for. It is a loss when these athletes die, but it's just as tragic when athletes get injured or die in any sport. But when they do, this community of reckless individuals come together to support those in need and its a beautiful thing to see. You can't put restrictions on extreme sports just because people get hurt and or killed. That can happen at any point of time any day and if we restricted everything that could potentially hurt someone we would just live inside all day and not do anything.
There's no right or wrong here. Only sadness. Sadness at the loss of such dynamic human beings. Sadness for those grieving loved ones they leave behind.
I'm trying to formulate an adequate response to the vitriol spewing from the mouths of the ignorant towards the top of this thread, but I cannot; instead, I will express my sadness at all of the deaths and life-altering injuries that transpire within the extreme sports world. And not just the recent avalanche, or the death of Sarah Burke, but every death or life-altering injury in every extreme sport - every person who has ever died doing the thing they love.
We don't all do it for the fame, though some do; we don't all do it for glory or money or recognition or to progress a particular sport or just to do it, we do it because, by and large, it is the only thing we know how to do. It is the only thing that makes us feel right, the only thing that gives us peace and lets us sleep at night. Simply, it's passion, and it is what makes everything else work.
(@Bobertbobert) What the actual @!$%#? To offhandedly surmise that what we do is a form of 'reckless disregard' is not only obnoxious and sophomoric in the extreme, but incredibly rude and disheartening to the athletes and families whose worlds very much revolve around their respective sports. You know nothing about the subject, and yet you feel fit to pass judgment over its entirety, and then continue on with sweeping statements bordering on the non-sequiter through the rest of your comment.
(@Red car) Selfish? Yeah you're damn right it is; any individual sport, ANY individual sport is selfish in almost every way conceivable, and skiing is no exception. My statement there is surely not the whole truth to those who know any better, as one athlete can inspire hordes of groms and create hugely positive experiences for said groms (just look at Rob Dyrdek and Wild Grinders, or his public Safe Spot Skate Spots), but the heart of any individual sport is selfishness. And that's okay. You see, every human being is wont to selfishness - selfishness not only allows our species to survive, selfishness allows for individuals to exist. Without selfishness, I'd posit that there is no individual.
You're arguing that those of us participating in individual sport take selfishness to an unappealing extreme, and the only thing I can say to that is that you are looking at these sports in the wrong light. For lack of better framing, these aren't sports we do as a career or hobby or what have you, they aren't sports - they are lifestyles, lifestyles that allow us to be us.
(@Vonavar/Jesse Woods) Vonavar, I respect your decision to keep yourself at arms length on this one. I'm down for a civil argument any time, if you change your mind. Jesse, you're arguing my point of view so I won't go after you too much... other than to say that the 'you're more likely to get hurt while living life' argument doesn't really apply as strongly as I think you're implying. Nobody wants to die be it from driving, breathing, sleeping, basket weaving, tripping on the curve, skiing, or living - some people need to drive, some people need to live, and some people need to ski. Death is something to take incredibly seriously, and it's a factor in risk assessing which features/stunts/tricks an athlete plans to do, but I feel it's not something that really factors in to why we do those features/stunts/tricks.
In other news, I'm pretty sure the, 'think of the children!' argument needs to stop. Not because the sentiment is a bad one, not at all; more because it's not an argument fit for arguing and you all could do much better with your moral outrage.
To recap: extreme sports (of which freeskiing is a part) aren't so much sports as they are lifestyles, and the moral outrage over what these athletes do is misplaced, if not misguided entirely. Selfishness is a key aspect of ones self, and if freeskiing is what makes you feel like you, who the flying @!$%# are the rest of you to say otherwise?
Thanks,
Justin Schmaelzle
The people that criticize these sports are idiots and there's nothing we can do to change them. Just let them sit in their cubicles in blissful ignorance and live a meaningless life.
I signed up for an account in order to comment in an effort to shed light to those who have made ill thought, ignorant (in a non-condescending tone), and borderline disrespectful comments.
We should all be as lucky to die doing something we passionately love! Not to die but to spend your life doing what you love and makes you truly happy. These athletes are not mere adrenaline junkies, they don't do what they so to just get a "fix". They do it to be happy, to be free, and to love life. Sherry Smulders McConkey understood this and it is one of the things that makes her love for Shane so strong. If you cannot understand this concept, of being free and living life with true happiness and fulfillment, then I am truly sorry for you.
RIP my fellow snow sport athletes. I am sad you are gone, but happy you were able to obtain true happiness.
*NEWSFLASH* SKIING IS DANGEROUS!! Come on people, wake up. Nobody forces these athletes into doing these acts, corporations especially. No ski sponsor says "Go do X extreme act otherwise we will cut you." The closest example would be park athletes who are required to do contests in order to maintain sponsorship criteria but that largely stays within the confines of controlled ski areas, save for the FWT or Cold Rush. Red Bull was the worst possible example they could've used in this segment to try and illustrate their point of corporations pushing their athletes to make incorrect or misinformed choices. Shane was going huge long before Red Bull picked him up or blew up in the USA. Go watch him huck the Palisades (when there's actually snow on it unlike the video), do doubles in the early '90's in "There's Something about McConkey". Do Red Bull and other companies facilitate these athletes ability to gain access to such extreme places like Shane's cliff in Italy? Of course, heli time is expensive. However it reverts back to the old adage of "If there's a will there's a way" I'm pretty sure Shane would've found a way to do what he loved to do with or without corporate help. CR Johnson was spinning 1440's at Squaw at the earliest inception of freeskiing when he was 16. No corporation was telling him to do so. And to allude that doing the things that Shane did will get you killed in an avalanche like what happened to Jamie Pierre or the group in Steven's Pass is ridiculous. For the people on here who are hating on something they no nothing about: stay put in your cubicles and safety of your concrete jungles. Leave the sport, the mountains and the natural beauty of the outdoors to us. Skiers cherish these things while you all simply look to knock them down and destroy them.
By definition, Extreme = Being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree; very intense; extending far beyond the norm.
Mr. Williams question on why extreme skiers are dying at an increasing rate is answered simply by cause & effect, action & consequence. As the sport evolves and becomes more prevalent, more and more "extreme" acts become commonplace, as more and more attempt them. At the same time, those at the forefront push the envelope, taking on more risk in pursuit of the truly extreme. The natural result is there are more catastrophes.
Power to those that pursue this sport, as it is their right to do so. Tragic when bad things result, but don't act surprised. As the limits get extended, the risk increases - simple as that. Like everything else in life, once you begin to surpass a certain threshold limit, the chance of calamity increases. That is the thrill, but also can lead to a heavy price of failure.
Wow this is crazy! I can see how both arguments prove valid points on what each individual believes is right. And before I get into I am a skier so I will tend to side with the freeski industry.
What I believe is that we're all gonna die, can't avoid it. We spend every day of our lives ensuring that today is not the day. Until it gets to a point where we don't know what we're capable of and what is perhaps above our limit. Sports considered "extreme" like freeskiing help remind us that we are very strong and yet they humble us as well when we realize that we aren't all powerful. The feeling you get when you send it through a big line, carve giant turns in steep powder or drop a big cliff, that feeling is unlike any other I have personally experienced. I understand that I'm so young and still have a whole world to understand but what I know now, is that freeskiing puts the biggest smile on my face. I'm gonna die one day, I know that. It could be tomorrow, it could be in 50 years. All I can do in that time is make sure that when it happens, I have the biggest smile on my face.
I am not a spammer, just an old ski instructor with some insight. My book, The GREATEST SKI INSTRUCTOR In the West, juxtaposes "the greatest skiers" (becoming a dime-a-dozen) with "the greatest ski teachers" (few-n-far-between). I've noticed for many years that the irresponsible film-makers and "extreme media" are running the show, "egging them on"---the true teachers can hardly get a word in "edge"-wise. Skiing should be for EVERYBODY, not just the ones willing to risk their lives for the camera. I've almost died a couple to times skiing: that smile can disappear real quick.
It's ok, you don't have to relate. We all take different risks. Some of us sit too long in front of the screen, some eat fast food, some don't exercise. But the data from the CDC says, as an American, I'm 80% more likely to die of heart disease or cancer than all cause trauma (including ski wrecks). Even risk adjusted for skiing fast and dropping some cliffs, I'll take those odds with a smile. Anecdotally, I see plenty of skiers and boarders out there over the age of 60 who look great! I also don't see a lot of fat skiers, smoking cigarettes, and bitching about how many pills they have to take every day...
I'm supposed to feel sorry for these extreme risk takers? I don't think so. I do feel sorry for the spouses and their kids, but not for the people that participate in extreme sports. Sooner or later, a bad thing is bound to happen, without them giving a thought to being there for their family. It all comes down to the adrenaline rush they get and the large sums of money they can possibly make. And us taxpayers have to pay many times for the dangerous rescue attempts and the rehabilitation of these extreme idiots, if they survive.