Friends create memorial for McConkey in Italy
By Karin Carrasco, Moonshine Ink
More than five years has passed since Tahoe and the skiing world lost the legendary Shane McConkey to a BASE jumping accident in the Italian Alps.
Friends of McConkey recently made a trip to the bottom of the cliff to set up a permanent memorial for the fallen skier.
On March 26, 2009, McConkey, 39, was attempting a wingsuit ski BASE jump off a 2,000-foot cliff in the Dolomite Alps while filming for Matchstick Productions. Reports show that after doing a double backflip, McConkey was unable to release one of his skis. By the time it released, it was too late to open his parachute.
Paul Arthur, McConkey’s first ski coach at Squaw Valley, worked with the National Parks of Italy for permission to officially memorialize McConkey and his legacy by naming a rock on the trail to the fatal cliff-jumping site as Shane’s Rock.