The void finally stares back at Shane McConkey. Image: Sweded.

Dearly Departed: Canadian-born extreme skiing pioneer, Shane McConkey, 1969-2009.

Cause Of Death: Accidental death while skiing off a cliff in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains.

Greatest Achievement: McConkey revolutionised ski design while pioneering a hybrid of skiing and BASE-jumping.

Some might scoff at sympathy for a daredevil’s death, since risking his life was ultimately what made skiing madman Shane McConkey get up in the morning, climb a mountain, and throw himself off it.

There has been the requisite fawning praise for McConkey on skiing message boards, alternately calling him a god, a hero, Superman, and the Wayne Gretzky of the slopes. Of course, extreme sports types go to extremes, but it was curious to see almost as many comments chastising him for risking his life so cavalierly at 39 years of age with a wife and daughter worrying back at base.

McConkey’s hunger for adrenaline actually resulted in some significant advancements in skiing technology. His penchant for backflips meant he needed skis that would accommodate strange angles and his off-piste adventures required skis that could handle deep powder. He actually strapped water skis to his feet and ended up inventing reverse camber skis, which are wider and more stable. To get the idea, the first ones were named the Volant Spatula and he was responsible for designing K2’s Pontoon “rocker” skis.

McConkey’s insane feats – shooting down isolated mountains before leaping off cliffs, backflipping, then yanking out a parachute – made him a legend. His stunts appeared in 20 films and he won and placed in many major competitions from 1994 to 2000, predominantly in his chosen field: the acrobatic freestyle trickery known as freeskiing.

Let’s get to the main event: how did possibly the world’s most experienced BASE-jumping skier die in the Dolomites? His longtime friend and skiing partner JT Holmes joined him to fly off the Italian Alps. They planned to leap off a cliff, disengage their skis, then fly away from the face using a ‘squirrel suit‘ and open their parachutes. Trouble was, McConkey couldn’t immediately release either of his skis. When he finally got them loose, it was too late, he was metres from the ground. It wasn’t a parachute malfunction but pure bad luck.

JT says “the whole thing took place in about 12 seconds”. It always seems like an enormous amount of effort to go through in order to experience such a short-lived adrenaline rush. I guess that’s why it’s like crack to these extreme sportsmen. And McConkey’s addiction killed him.

Regardless of whether he was supremely selfish or a man who succeeded in following his dreams, McConkey’s individual contribution to freestyle skiing and ski design can’t be underestimated.

He will be missed.