James Shane McConkey was a risk taker, an inventor, and an explorer, who led many out of their comfort zones, pushed the limits into new experiences and previously unknown and new directions, while often sporting new innovative technology.
(from Open House, Leslie Anthony)

He was at the ragged edge of a ragged sport where you have to be one hundred percent right, every time.
Fellow extremist, Will Gadd, Re: the guy on the cover - Shane McConkey

He said, 'That's what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.
Jesus through a parable in Luke 19:26, MSG

The joy I get from skiing, that's worth dying for...
C. R. Johnson, Seven Sunny Days DVD

This kind of activity combines both a heightened sense of arousal and engagement in one's surroundings as well as intense, almost out-of-body concentration within an activity.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:23-24, MSG

Shane McConkey was born on Dec. 30, 1969, in Vancouver. He died on March 26, 2009, in Italy in a BASE skiing accident. He was 39. He leaves his wife, Sherry, his three-year-old daughter, Ayla, his father, Jim, and his mother, Glenn