The Epitome of the "Whistler 'Tude"

"Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse". Another very dead, selfish, "it's all about ME", kinda guy.
So, just what positive contribution was made during his time on this Earth? Or was it all "show", just like Whistler ?

A Tragic Loss

What a tragedy. Shane's videos have raced around the world, and most people I know have seen at least one of them. His achievements, in a world crowded with adventure sports, were unsurpassed.

It's interesting to see how a true individualist (in a culture that supposedly worships individual achievement) not get the recognition he deserves. Instead, we're blanketed with monopoly behavior and pablum TV.

But I digress. Shane McConkey was a unique, courageous, brilliant and fearless (and a Canadian to boot!). His loss will be mourned. Thank you Tyee for acknowledging his life and passing.

positive contribution

As a rural kid who grew up in the back-country, I looked up to the skiers of the day such as Trevor Petersen and Eric Pehota. Their inspiration helped foster my "psych" for the mountains and for the environment in general.

Shane, though perhaps more radical, provided similar inspiration to both young and old alike.

It frustrates me that so many are quick to judge those who are killed doing dangerous outdoor sports. I sometimes wonder if they would be happier if the youth only got their inspiration from mass-murder video games, ultimate fighting, and crystal meth.

I strongly feel that full respect is due when someone like Trevor Peterson, Doug Coombs, or Shane McConkey passes away. These men are not simply selfish fools, but were true pioneers of what is humanly possible.

In terms of positive contributions, I think they all inspired countless young people to pursue more healthy lifestyles and also preached and promoted respect and love for the mountains and wilderness.

Thanks Shane.

So we should all jump off mountains?!

Why write this piece if you won't allow moralizing?

I hope he had insurance if he had a partner and or kids!

I sure hope he wasn't an ass as some dare devil stunt freaks are!

Go ahead, judge this mundane motherfucker!

@Armor

Hey Armor. Some of us aren't quite sure if there's a whole heap of difference in the phenomenological experience of extreme skiing, and engaging "obstacles" in hyper-violent video games. If you can argue the case, go ahead. Strikes me that pretty much all the soldiery you play in first-person games, are unshaven but it in great shape, and engage with villains, amidst awe-inspiring scenary. I actually think a lot of good things can go on in these games, but it is the kind of epic aesthetic that appeals to the militant, as much or more to the peace-loving environmentalist--no? (Wasn't nazi-youth all into fresh air, and crisp, manly, mountain climbs?) And again your take reminds me of my concerns with Geoff's: apparently to some extreme skiers have inspired, the alternative to the pure, manly "pioneer," is either (with Geoff) pathetic lazyness or (with yourself) drugged-up, decipatedness. (And yes, society right now is getting to like the idea of shaping up youth and creating a more pure society: which, since it's the mentality that's everywhere just before a nation gets seriously militant, is very much our collective, concerned problem.)

That you're grateful that people like Shane showed you what is possible, is very much the appropriate reaction for you, though. I'm glad people like Shane have showed many that life can be exhilirating self-actualizing. But they shouldn't shy away from a thorough exploration of the motivations behind such charged, aggressive, embattled fun.

Lately in threads were

Lately in threads were hearing from soldiers who are saying that the infantry is primarily about helping people and promoting peace, and from extreme skiers, that their sport is all about brotherly strolls, ease, peace and love. Hmm . . . Might it be fair to conclude that the most accurate take might actually come from those who see things from a distance (like, on T.V.), rather than from within?

An extreme-skier advocate isn't one to "shy away" from anything. I get it, and perhaps regret my use of the term. Still, I think to present a more plausible case, you should explained exactly why the sport got to be called "extreme" in the first place? Isn't the extreme label used 'cause the sport wants to see itself as well-beyond ordinary limits, beyond what the rest of sport offers and the rest of us can handle? And isn't this charged, aggressive--macho, stuff? And isn't this what the military advertises itself as offering?

Nothing wrong with extreme skiing

or any other extreme sport for that matter. After all they are all attempts to push the human envelope of life. We, sometimes, can gain valuable knowledge from whatever sport is being challenged.

I get all the adrenalin rushes I can handle just watching most of the videos capturing these events so I don't have to stick my own neck out. Just don't feed me the line that these individuals, who perish, died doing what they loved best. You'll get no sympathy.

what about his wife's and 3-year old daughter's dreams?

"But the fact is Shane McConkey was one crazy motherfucker who reminded us all that if we have the audacity follow our dreams, well, we just might be able to fly."

Yes, it is easy to moralize on Shane McConkey and, I would argue, we should. He may have followed his dreams, but his dreams go him killed and have now left his wife a widower, and his daughter fatherless. I sure hope his dreams were worth the lifetime of impacts losing a parent has on a child as well as all the emotional and psychological grief he has inflicted on his widow.

Crazy motherfucker? I don't know. Selfish and irresponsible? Definitely.

A Rebel without a clue. Maybe not.

There'll be one school of thought that asks if we're supposed to eulogize and admire McConkey's life or lifestyle from behind our worker cubicles? Really, what did this guy do for anyone? He was just another adrenalin junkie who encouraged some of these family men who have died recently skiing or snowmobiling in the back country. The 'born to be wild' lifestyle is ill suited to most of us who are born to be mild. All he really left behind was some cool Youtube clips which will age poorly as their digits fade with time into the internet. And at another level, why don't we celebrate our true and unsung heroes like the volunteers and workers who help the homeless?

But, then let's not be so quick to dismiss McConkey.

No, he may not have helped save the world, but most of us haven't so we shouldn't be so self righteous. McConkey should be admired because he died on his own terms; he left this world by walking out. Most of us cling to life down to the very end, right to the last morphine drip, rotting until we weigh 90 pounds with loved ones sobbing around us. That's the frailty and cowardly nature of human nature.

The comedian Denis Leary said it best, "I don't want to live longer unless I get an extra 20 years from when I was 30 years old. Why do I want more years from 80? Those are the adult diaper years where I'm confined to a wheelchair and can't escape the lectures of my reborn Christian son-in-law." Sometimes living longer is not as important as living well.

I don't know McConkey, but I sense he didn't enlist anyone pity. He knew what he was doing and the risks. And he had the courage that few of us have- to do what you love. And die for it.

a minor point...

This is the third story I've seen on Shane McConkey that hypes his ties to Whistler and his Canadian identity. This is, to say the least, a stretch. Shane was the result of a brief relationship between Jim McConkey and an American woman named Glenn, who somewhat oddly still keeps the McConkey name. Virtually ALL of McConkey's upbringing was done by his single mother (a fairly common occurrence in action sports, as it turns out) and he attended school in both Vermont and Colorado, before settling down in Squaw Valley, CA. He visited Canada to go on film shoots and to do BASE jumps, and also visited his father (from whom he was estranged for many years). He is hardly what you would call a "Whistlerite," though I suspect his dual passport or whatever you get allowed him to enter Canada fairly easily.

As for his wife and daughter, no, Shane did NOT have life insurance - as someone who has applied for whole life in the past, even 'backcountry skiing' will get you stroked off the list. I am confident that his sponsors will, in fact, step in and look after his wife and family. As a friend of mine said, "BASE jumping - crazy as it sounds, is what Shane McConkey did for a living" something that was a constant source of wonder to McConkey himself and was why he had such an outrageous personality.

Shane's film segments brought tremendous joy and excitement to hundreds of thousands of people in the action sports world and in our media driven society today, that is indeed some kind of contribution. I won't comment on whether the contributions of Canadian troops to what many feel is an "immoral war" (I don't share that view, to be honest) are positive or more worthy.

Shane lived life to the fullest, and the tribe are celebrating his death. A sad thing, to be sure, but it is a free country, and he died living the life he chose.

Finally, why is that NOT a justification? In all of the stories I read, I see NO EVIDENCE whatsoever of 'chasing inner demons', depression, or any mental illness. As he said in There's Something About McConkey "there's something really cool about getting scared. I don't know what." Let's just leave it at that. I don't see much glory in dying of Alzheimers, or cancer, frankly...

Too far out in left field (and no walking stick)

“..the courageous choices he made to not opt for a safe, conventional life. “

‘Conventional’ life is safe?? Give me a break! Safe from what? No one gets out of here alive…

“McConkey should be admired because he died on his own terms.”

Yeah, I’m sure his wife and kids are jubilant about his terms, not to mention what his mother might think about how he disposed of the life she gifted him with?

Why is it now politically incorrect to call stupid waste stupid waste and a self-centred jerk a self-centred jerk? If you want to be free to throw your life out with the trash, you should at least not tie yourself to others, who may actually be dumb enough to believe you care enough to stick around for them!

Why am I so angry? Well, I’ll tell you why. My work entails being faced with extremely ill and dying children, brave little souls, who would give their eye teeth for a chance at that life this arrogant person threw away. Don’t talk to me about courage, other than in showing respect for the struggles of ‘ordinary’ people who live a ‘safe, conventional life’. Who the f$%* are you to judge what courage other people muster in order to face their lives, or deaths?

Ah yeah, the 'extreme boys/men'

In my 20s I lived in Banff and there were a lot of young men like McConkey. Some of my good friends were just as dare-devilish as he, and made it into Canadian snowboard magazines, etc. I admired them then (hey- I was 20 something- these were the 'fun' guys!!) and I admire them NOW- now, because they are older and wiser, and have, to put it bluntly, grown up. They are no less admirable than McConky because they now 'play it a little safer', because some of them have decided to start a family and at that point you ARE RESPONSIBLE for others. In the clip, my heart just sank when I saw that baby and realized he has a daughter. My deepest condolences, but NOT COOL.
The rest of what I wanted to say was summarized quite nicely in Dorothy's last paragraph.

life - a very precious miracle - tossed?

I have contemplated Life for a long time and asked myself all manner of questions, particularly with the present younger generations having seemingly no regard for it. It is one thing, when our stupid politicians use the best of what life has offered up to feed their uncaring egos with dying soldiers in foreign lands they have absolutely no business being there, and it is quite another to have cold, calculating media egging young, ignorant people on to out-do the extremists, who care not a wit about the precious miracle called life. These young whippersnappers think it is cool to live on adrenaline, but sadly, it is a testament to their stupidity!

No Tears Here - except for his daughter

This guy was just another self-absorbed thrill seeker. And when you are single with no obligations or responsibilities to anyone, that's just fine.

But having a family inserts a whole new level of responsibility into your life. McConkey obviously didn't understand that.

Now his daughter grows up without a father, and without ever knowing him. Oh, she'll have the movies and the stories, but that's a pretty shallow substitute for actually having the guy there to be in her life.

From Hero to Zero?

I knew that praising McConkey's lifestyle in any way would be controversial. No, I didn't think he was Mother Theresa, but some of us can draw even a sliver of inspiration from him.

Dorothy, our admiration for McConkey is relative, not absolute, and is not meant to diminish the brave children you work worth. Indeed, you're one of those heroes I referred to in my post. But, can't we admire one and all? Can't we have heroes for different reasons?

McConkey may have been selfish to leave his wife and daughter behind, but who knows what kind of relationship they had?

A couple of points

"But the fact is Shane McConkey was one crazy motherfucker who reminded us all that if we have the audacity follow our dreams, well, we just might be able to fly."

He didn't fly, he just dropped out of the sky slower.

"McConkey may have been selfish to leave his wife and daughter behind, but who knows what kind of relationship they had?"

I doubt any interaction with his daughter was much of a relationship. Isn't his daughter quite young? Wasn't he on the road quite a bit?

McConkey got his '10,000 hours' in and was good at what he did, but it's no great feat. Having said that, I've seen the squirrel suit videos, and other extreme stuff by Shane and other. It's quite amazing. But, hero worship tends to lead to bad choices on both sides of the altar.

Please Respect

This man had more fun than any of us ever will. He deserves respect for his endeavors. He created a legacy among the people in his culture, he inspired more smiles and 'wows' than Sigfrid and Roy, and he lived life full and happily.

If you choose to degrade, disrespect and denounce him (and those who loved him) for being 'selfish', then I suggest you go fcuk yourself.

SHANE

Shane was a friend of mine. One of the funniest, funnest, freshest—and smartest—people I’ve ever met. As a writer, I spent both mundane and gut-splitting occasions too numerous to recount chronicling his march to the edge of superhuman endeavour. What—as has been posed here by both erudites and idiots—was I watching? Since I have a large sample size to draw from, I have an empirical answer straight from anthropology. It’s simple: we were watching a risk-taking alpha male operating in a particularly rarified and well-broadcast milieu. A general. CEO. Explorer. Inventor. Leader.

And where was he leading? Not necessarily over cliffs or off jumps or into the abyss, but out of our comfort zones and into new experience. More inspiration than direct aspiration, kids who loved Shane weren’t all out jumping off rooves with homemade parachutes. Shane was aware of his influence, one of the reasons he kept things light; he already had your attention, so his message was not to take things—or him—too seriously. Succeed and have fun, whatever that was for you. Clearly, it was something else for his cadre, the sacrificial lambs of humanity’s collective ambition. Like generals felled in battle, explorers lost at sea, inventors killed by their inventions, CEOs dumped in takeovers, these individuals—thrill-seekers all—sometimes fall short in their limit-testing. And still we admire them. In contrast to many, Shane’s undertakings put no one else at risk and a smile on everyone’s face.

Shane wasn’t paid in medals, new territories or multi-million dollar bonuses, but his personal reward was in kind. A satisfying day at the office. And while remunerated modestly, he was making a decent living. A good job; doing what he loved. He’d put in many years to get there. His family behind him. Should Ed Hilary and crew not have climbed Everest in deference to having families? I’ve never seen that question raised. Why? Because it’s stupid. A climber climbs. Would a general not ride into battle because they had a family? An explorer stay at home? Nyet. There’s no historical moral imperative, rendering contrary arguments baseless and subjective. Moot. That it can be fun and feed the id is gravy, not selfish. Moot again.

It’s in man’s nature to attempt to tame the beast that dwells within any beauty. To fly as close to the sun as possible. We would not have evolved otherwise. Shane knew a measure of the world’s beauty that remains inaccessible to most, but there was always the beast to be appeased. So it was natural—though not inevitable—that it might eventually win. And though this would be sad, it was the unstated price for a game we all play. The tribe knows that, gets that, accepts that. If that’s the “Whistler ’tude” dude, so be it. We’ll take it over pointless moralizing and hand-wringing any day. Shane did, and we are the better for it.

No one on this thread (well,

No one on this thread (well, almost no one) made a comment intended to "degrade, disrespect and denounce him". You have lost a wonderful friend and brave man and are hurting. Point taken. You wish we all could have met him and been touched by his courage and zest for life- got it.
But it is comments like this: "This man had more fun than any of us ever will" that I think have turned off some of the commenters. I actually read another thread where someone had written in response to a non-fan that "The difference is that when you die you won't be missed." To a perfect stranger! How dare you assume other people don't take great risks each and every day, haven't had fascinating life experiences, travelled foreign lands, climbed tall mountains and touched or been touched deeply by others. You don't know what kind of "fun" we've had. Idolize Shane all you want, but in so doing don't degrade the lifestyle choices others have made.
And docleslie: "Should Ed Hilary and crew not have climbed Everest in deference to having families? I’ve never seen that question raised. Why? Because it’s stupid."
It's not stupid. Says who? You? All of us above who commented that he should have been more responsible because he had a little girl will not be written off by your "because it's stupid." It's not that simple.
May your friend rest in peace, and thank you for this article. He does sound like he was a very inspiring and free spirit.

You beat me to it Dorothy

Many posters here are justifying Shane in terms of the perceived opposite... "cling[ing] to life down to the very end, right to the last morphine drip, rotting until we weigh 90 pounds with loved ones sobbing around us. That's the frailty and cowardly nature of human nature" in the words of one poster.

This belittles the courage that those of us who don't have the strength, talent or opportunities to do what Shane did do instead - living our lives, often at the mercy of our circumstances, in service to those even less fortunate than ourselves.

It's especially reprehensible when our friends and family display at our deathbed the same kind of disgusting attitudes toward us as we die, dismissing our courage as we die with dignity.

Some even demand we live longer to appease some misguided sense of guilt - especially when we can no longer speak or decide for ourselves to make our wishes known.

We're all struggling with the most difficult task ever assigned to us - that of living our lives to the best of our abilities. I may not respect what Shane did for a living, but I won't slag him in death. I wish others could do the same for the more ordinary of us.

@Leslie

"Like generals felled in battle, explorers lost at sea, inventors killed by their invention"

Well Leslie, I think your friend was talented and hard-working and lived life on his own terms. I don't think too many people are disputing that. But, I'm not sure it's a valid comparison to place the achievements of Shane and others like him beside those of a general or explorer or inventor. I also think Edmund Hillary got to the top of Everest and lived on to turn his achievement into a lifetime of public service because he avoided unnecessary risks. If I'm wrong about that, then I apologize. Isn't it fair to say that Shane and other extreme skiers actually try to increase the risk and danger elements in their adventures?

...

Fii, your comments were sobering and I apologize for my generalization. I read cboo44's post and was pissed off:

docleslie, your post was excellent..you should send something to the pique.

Kudos to all.

MORE...

"But, I'm not sure it's a valid comparison to place the achievements of Shane and others like him beside those of a general or explorer or inventor. I also think Edmund Hillary got to the top of Everest and lived on to turn his achievement into a lifetime of public service because he avoided unnecessary risks."

My friend, I'm sure you're missing the point. It's a perfectly valid comparison from where I—and many others—stand. For us, Shane was indeed a general, an explorer and—as anyone skiing fat skis or entering big-mountain comeptitions knows—an inventor. As for Ed Hilary, jeezuz, climbing Everest in 1953 had to be among THE most risky things you could do. And then there's this: all risk is, by definition, unnecessary.

My heart aches for Sherry

My heart aches for Sherry and Ayla. They will bear the consequences of Shanes actions for the rest of their lives. They will never get over the loss but simply learn to live with it in the best case scenario.
Her father would rather risk his life than be a father and husband. WE never had the opportunity to have him move beyond and inspire us in knowing when to quit and how to engage us in living better.

Leslie

I think I know who you are and you're a helluva writer and I've enjoyed your work. But my p.o.v. diverges from yours on where the line gets drawn. I'm not 'missing the point.'

McConkey did what he loved and was clearly willing to pay the price. Speaking as a father, it seems too high to me.

To be honest, I feel you're overstating the importance of Shane's accomplishments. Again, my opinion only. Maybe I'm just jealous. Or simply have a different set of values.