J.T. Holmes, a close friend and long-time jump partner of McConkey who had jumped the 600 meter cliff moments before Shane, said McConkey performed a double backflip from the cliff and planned to release his skis and then fly in his wingsuit, a stunt he's executed a number of times. But when both skis failed to release upon tugging on straps leashed to his legs, McConkey went into an upside down position as he manually attempted to release his bindings. Because throwing a chute while inverted poses the likelihood of the canopy and lines becoming entangled in the skis, McConkey used valuable seconds to focus on removing both skis and succeeded. He quickly turned into a classic, face down BASE jumping position to throw his pilot chute (which pulls out the main canopy), but after 12 seconds of freefall he struck snow immediately before there was time to react. He was killed upon impact.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
arv, oh God, the sentient horror of those seconds. Just doesn't bear thinking about.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Hurtle, horrible to think about. I'd guess he didn't spend a lot of time worrying though - his last moments would have been spent focussing on doing everything he could to get his chute to open.
Apologies - it's pointless speculation. He was a legend, and as plenty of others have said had a big enough personality to come across as a really nice guy in even his short film segments. Will be genuinely missed by many many people.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
A Great Tragedy as he was one of my favourite extreme skiers.
Such a fantastic personality made everyone who met him love hime.
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Poster: A snowHead
