by Tyler Delumeyea

The movie premiere of McConkey the Movie set the stoke level beyond huge in our little mountain valley. The parking lot was considerably full and immediately you could just feel the vibe of Shane. This vibe that I am talking about is something that anyone who even knew the name would understand. Living life to the fullest and just having fun is truly what Shane was all about. This movie had a lot of buzz around town the last couple weeks and is arguably the most anticipated movie premier of the year.

The movie itself was an amazing collaboration of Red Bull Media House and Match Stick Production. It was awesome to see these two massive companies come together and make a movie that truly honored a man that in many people’s eyes changed the skiing world as we know it. The movie takes a deeper look into Shane’s earlier life growing up and really depicts what makes Shane who he is. He had a pretty hectic early life with his parents getting a divorce when he was only Three years old. At the time his parents were living in Canada and when they split his mom took Shane with her back to California. As a young little ripper he skied Squaw but his mom saw an opportunity for Shane to go back east to Vermont where he attended Burk Mountain Ski Academy where he developed into an awesome ski racer. Shane then moved on to CU Boulder after not making the US Ski team in hopes of pursuing a skiing career further. He eventually dropped out of school and just became a man with no fear and a passion for doing what he loved.

After dropping out of school he relocated back to where his roots of skiing truly were, Squaw Valley. Shane helped mold the outline of why squaw is so rad. He went bigger, he went faster, and he even went naked down lines that most of us wouldn’t even ski in our wildest dreams. This man shaped the world of skiing so much that honestly from my very biased west coast young shop rat opinion, in a way that I don’t think we could have reached without his passion and love for this sport.

Not only was Shane an amazing skier and progressed the sport itself forward pushing the limits but he also was one of the biggest innovator of skis them self. I bet some of you remember when the first Volant Spatula hit the scene. This was Shane’s brain child, the first pair of rockered skis. He soon later developed his pro model from K2 the Pontoon. Now he wasn’t the first to think of reverse camber but he was the first to use it in such a way that literally every single ski brand out there has a version of rocker in at least one model. Shane utilized the rocker and not only realized it was great for skiing blower powder in Alaska, but it also helped skis turn quicker and more efficient in all conditions.

In retrospect the movie was a great in-depth look at how an iconic man who changed to course of history in our sport forever, came about. Shane truly was a huge icon and inspired many to live life to the fullest and truly just have fun.