Posts Tagged ‘British Columbia’

Hey guys, just look at this. Couldn’t resist putting this photo on – this is SQUAMISH yesterday – click on the ‘view full size’ …. and check out my blog about Squamish on 12th September.

And the rumour was that there’d be snow at Whistler last night…

The ski season might be closer than we think.

The tragic news of Shane McConkey’s death on Thursday while skiing/wingsuit flying in the Italian Dolomites would appear to have its root cause in failure of the equipment that McConkey was using. This is according to an emailed statement released by JT Holmes who was with McConkey at the time of the accident and reported by Tim Mutrie.

The statement is reproduced below:

‘Yesterday, March 26, 2009, Shane died while skiing in Italy. There are some technical aspects that are left out from this statement, and it does not touch upon the beauty of the Dolomites and the skiing we shared before the accident or Shane’s typical shining persona, full of adventure, humor and life experience.

We chose to ski off of a cliff with our wingsuits and fly them away from the cliff wall before opening our parachutes for landing. We skied and hiked off of the Pordoi cable car to a spot Shane had base jumped once before, in the summer. We spent a bunch of time preparing for the jump, building a kicker, helping each other gear up, and finally we were pleased and prepared and went for it.

Shane did a double back flip in perfect McConkey style. As planned, afterwards, he went to release his skis in order to fly away from the wall and safely deploy his parachute. This is where the jump went wrong. He was not able to release either of his skis. He remained focused on releasing them by reaching down towards his bindings. This put him into a spin/tumble/unstable falling style, that may have appeared out of his control, but in reality, Shane was not concerned about flying position or style; just concerned with reaching those skis so that he could get them off and fly or deploy his parachute. He succeeded in releasing both of skis and immediately transitioned into a perfect flying position; then he impacted the snow, and died at that moment.

The whole thing took place in about 12 seconds. Once he released the skis, he was immediately in control of the flight and would have only seen the ground and imminent impact for a tiny fraction of a second before he hit. Shane’s parachute did not malfunction; it was never deployed.’

Shane McConkey was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and became a professional skier based out of Squaw Valley, California. He won numerous awards and competitions. McConkey started as a competitive freestyle skier, but moved on to be featured in a long line of extreme skiing movies. McConkey was known for combining BASE jumping with skiing, as seen in such feats as skiing into a BASE jump off the Eiger. He had more recently taken to winsuit flying and believed there was nothing better than skiing down a mountain, launching himself off a cliff and flying like a bird.

He is survived by his wife, Sherry, and 3-year-old daughter, Ayla.

Shane McConkey

And as if we could ever forget we have included just one short video footage of Shane in action where it is self evident to see a master of his chosen profession at work – a combination of balance, grace, skill and courage.

We send our most sincere condolences to Sherry and Ayla.

Writing about extreme sports we never imagined we would have to cover the topic of nudity – well read on folks for that is what the people of British Columbia have been doing – taking their clothes off and bearing all as they make one giant leap of faith and bungee jump – all in the name of charity.

The annual naked bungy jump fundraiser for the B.C. Schizophrenia Society at WildPlay’s Bungy Zone south of Nanaimo attracts hundreds of people from as far as New York and Wisconsin. More often than not, nudity takes a backseat to facing the fear of heights or getting an adrenaline rush.

“I have no shame,” said Olympia’s Nick Wenzel after his jump as he stood under the bridge in nothing more than his birthday suit and a pair of sneakers. Wenzel has made the six-hour commute four times to take the naked leap of faith in Nanaimo, but this time he didn’t jump solo. Girlfriend Audrey Norris clutched Wenzel for dear life as they tipped off the plank together, face-to-face, for her first-ever jump.

“It was so much fun,” said Norris, who adds she was more nervous about being cold than anything else.

By early Sunday afternoon, the Bungy Zone had registered more than 160 jumps and raised more than $5,800, beating last year’s donation tally.

Pilots Kevin Teker and Ian Johnson from Seattle brought a cheering crew with them to add to their once-in-a-lifetime experience. The duo saw the event posted on the Internet and Teker said “now that’s got to be one crazy T-shirt.” Teker’s wife painted blue wings on her husband’s upper back before he ascended to his post, where a jump master wrapped his ankles.

“This is about overcoming a personal challenge,” said Teker before he shuffled to the end of the plank, spread his arms and flew into the air.

For Steven Bobowski, WildPlay senior jump master, it was just another day at the office. He’s been helping people take the plunge for 14 years and whether they’re clothed or not, it’s all the same to him.

“It can be the most amazing experience is someone’s life. It’s empowering,” said Bobowski as another bum disappears over the edge. When asked if the nudity bothers him at all he lets out a little laugh. “My guy friends give me a little grief over being around other naked guys, but all I say is eye contact is a beautiful thing.”

Our thanks go to Krista Charke of The Daily News for bringing us this story and also to bcssprov for the video below which shows the action!

In another bungee jumping incident 49-year-old Mark Afforde survived a snapped bungee cord during a jump from a 400-foot high bridge over Canyon Creek, near Yacolt on Thursday, reports shortnews.com . He broke free just as he bottomed out and was only 25 feet over the water.

Afforde’s wife said that it was the only time he’d ever tried the extreme sport and is probably the end of her husband’s thrill-seeking days. Afforde escaped serious injury, only complaining of a sore backside.

Thankfully we can report a happy ending this this territying story but it does demonstrate why bungee jumping has to be considered an extreme sport.

With spring in the air and folk dusting off their bikes I want to tell you about the toughest form of mountain biking – and appropriately enough its known as extreme cross country (XC) mountain biking!

As full-suspension bikes – those with suspension at the front and rear, capable of handling the toughest terrain – become the norm, extreme cross-country (XC) mountain biking that pushes bike and rider further than ever has never been more popular.

In Britain a new generation of man-made trails, built by enthusiasts to provide more challenging routes, have sprung up in the mountains of Scotland and Wales, while the Witch’s Trails in Fort William, near Ben Nevis, is about the toughest you will find.

However, even these pale into insignificance when seen against the trail in Whistler, British Columbia known simply as Comfortably Numb. The trail was built by local legend Chris Markle, who set about building it with spades, axes and a chainsaw. Because there’s no access for JCB diggers every part had to be crafted by hand, cutting trees that had fallen naturally to make wooden pathways and to negotiate boggy patches or water crossings.This is one of the toughest slices of man-made XC track in the world and unlike straight downhill mountain biking, XC requires the rider to go up as well as down, and is far more technically challenging.

Comfortably Numb starts at 2,067ft then rises to 3,323ft at the highest point before dropping back to 2,346ft at the finish. The whole ride covers 15 miles and along the way riders must negotiate near-vertical rocky drops, cross mountain streams and weave between giant trees.

It has been rated by the Canadians as a “black diamond” XC trail (the toughest grade there is) and is super-technical from start to finish. Section after section requires 90-100% effort to haul your way over huge roots and up steep rocky trails.

You need to allow between four to eight hours to complete it – four hours for ultra-fit pro XC racers, six to eight hours for strong and experienced endurance mountain bikers. Whoever you are you are going to have to keep a cool head and demonstrate a skill and endurance which will test you to the extreme. To whet your appetite I have included a short clip from the Comfortably Numb trail at Whistler. Your turn next!