Skiing Stoke from Lake Tahoe
The World Extreme Rock Crawler Championships visited Donner Ski Ranch over the weekend. Different classes of custom fabricated buggies tackled a variety of challenging courses, some of which still had snow. The north side of Donner Ski Ranch was open to skiing while W.E. Rock took over the south side.
Here’s some of the action:
My first year at Burning Man was 2002. I had no idea what to expect, except that I was supposed to bring all of my own food and water for a week – and that I was going to camp with Shane McConkey. I had recently moved to Truckee from Vermont where I went to classes during the day and watched Sick Sense over and over at night. Shane was a celluloid hero to me, not a real person whom I could possibly be meeting at Kmart in 20 minutes to get supplies.
We met in the parking lot and stocked up on batteries, Gatorade and Cheeze-Its. We landed in Black Rock City that night and after pitching our tents, the sun went down and we were off. I had a tiny, little girl’s bike and Shane was on his mountain bike, with a tall flag on the back. My main memory from that night was racing after that flag. Shane wasn’t waiting for me to catch up and I didn’t want to lose him and miss out on the tour. I managed to keep up. We crawled into a whale and cracked a Red Bull. We wandered into a large art piece that turned out to be someone’s RV and got rudely and comically kicked out by the owner. I crawled into a club behind Shane through a vagina-shaped hole. Shane had promised Sherry that he would be on his best behavior and so he took it easy, but he still managed to lead the way to all of the best art and parties.
The next fall I stopped by Shane’s Squaw Valley house, handed him some cash and walked out with a pair of Spatulas. They were 186cm – the only size they came in – and I was worried that they would be too big for me. Shane quickly disabused me of that notion. “They’re made for middle-aged weekend warriors,” he said.
I got them mounted and skied them almost every day. They were the sickest skis I’d ever had and the most annoying conversation piece. I considered making a sign, or lettering the back of my jacket to read: “Yes, they’re great in powder. No, they don’t ski that well on the groomers.” The questions never stopped coming from the first day I got on them until the last pow day I skied them last season. They weren’t the greatest hard-pack skis, but Shane had given me a tip that made them not all that bad. “Ski them like snowlerblades,” he told me. “The only part of the ski that is making contact with the snow is the short, fat part directly under foot, so carve with that, don’t try to use the whole ski.” I never cursed them on the groomers after that.
Shane became a friend. We went camping, and I went to his white elephant birthday parties. I got into the ski writing industry and interviewed him often for my stories. He was, by far, the best skier to interview, because he was more serious and articulate about the sport than any other pro. He was always questioning, experimenting and inventing, and he never let attitude or appearances get in the way of the progression of the sport.
Shane’s death last spring was a tragedy that continues to sadden us. While the initial shock has faded, the sense of loss is deepening.
I retired my Spatulas at the end of last season. After taking a year off, I decided to go to Burning Man again this year, along with the Spatulas. I took the bindings off and separated them. One was to be hung in the temple, an ornate sanctuary of sadness, loss and appreciation that is a cornerstone of Black Rock City. The other was to become a shot ski, with stainless steel shot glasses welded to it, for use at camp to celebrate Shane’s life and his spirit.
We took the skis out to Black Rock City and managed to use them as planned. On Wednesday, a group from our camp, including several very close friends of Shane, rode one Spatula out to the temple. We hung the ski, signed by Sherry, J.T. Holmes and other close friends, on the top floor of the temple, with two photos of Shane below it. Throughout the week, people added their own notes to the ski, along with bows, clippings and other memories. We rode back to camp and within the hour we were pouring shots and lining up takers for the shot ski. On Sunday the temple went up in flames along with the tokens of our love and loss. We all miss you Shane. As I wrote on the ski, I’m still following your flag.
Check out our recent trip to China. We got invited along with about 20 other base jumpers to go on a very unique trip to the Three Gorges area in China to jump into the world’s largest sink hole. Another one of those once in a lifetime experiences courtesy of a guy named Stephan Mueller, the Chinese government and Red Bull. Here is the link to the video that Red Bull put together. Click on the “watch in high quality” option. High fives to G and the other jumpers who are also in the video. – Shane McConkey
On Saturday Sept. 6th, Shane McConkey will be at the Perrine Bridge Festival in Twin Falls, Idaho participating in a charitable base jumping event to raise money for children with special needs. He and several other base jumpers will jump from 10 am to 6 pm doing between ten and seventeen base jumps. Shane is asking you to raise money for these children by pledging a per jump $ amount. It is for a good cause and is, of course, tax deductible. Visit the festival website.
Example:
You pledge $50 per jump. Shane does 12 jumps in the 8-hour time frame. Your donation would be $600. Easy math right! You can pledge any amount you like. It doesn’t have to be a large amount as long as we raise some money for the kids. Email if you want to participate.
Shane McConkey spent the fourth of July flying over Norway.
Well, it’s May and even though there is some skiing left, I’m switching modes. Last fall, the owners announced that the 9-hole Ponderosa Golf Course in Truckee would not reopen. Just outside of Sierra Meadows, the course was just a few minutes from my house. A locals’ gem among many expensive, high-end courses around town, many were saddened to see it go. The word was that the owner’s didn’t want to run it anymore because of competition from the resort courses. The airport bid on it, but could only offer the appraised value ($3.1 million) and the owners didn’t want to sell at that price. Last weekend, we learned that the course is going to open after all! The Truckee Parks and Rec department will run it and hopes to reduce prices and increase local programs. The photo to the left was taken two weeks ago when we played the unopened course for what we thought would be the last time. Nothing like the losing something for a little while to make you appreciate it even more.
After our recent storm and all the ones that hit in January, the snow levels in the mountains are high (a friends’ 7-year-old skied Squaw’s Main chute yesterday) and I’m off to the tropics! I leave for Hawaii tomorrow for some diving, snorkeling, surfing and general beach loungery. Sadly, I won’t be skiing or writing during the week I’m there. But you can ski on Hawaii. Mauna Kea on the Big Island is almost 14,000 feet and covered with snow. You can drive to the top and the 360-degree view from the summit is spectacular. I’ll try to grab some photos of it while I’m there. Aloha!
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