MCCONKEY WATERSNOW SKIS AND BASE-SKIS IN THE SAME YEAR
Shane McConkey must have been pretty bored when the 2003 season rolled around because he decided to try two new and crazy things that no one had ever tried, if the thought had even crossed their minds. The first: mounting up water skis and “side” lining a 2,000-foot face in Bella Cool. “He always said he was going to do it,” says Flip McCririck who was on hand to shoot both “firsts”. “I mean, he slid the whole spine sideways! The bindings were all loose in the skis afterwords, so it was a one-run deal. I was glad to have the skis out of the heli basket because they were cluttering up our whole show,” Flip jokes.
The idea of mounting up water skis seems pretty crazy, but it pales in comparison to strapping a parachute to your back and jumping off a massive cliff… in the middle of skiing a line! “The guide who was with us, Woody, was freaking out,” Flip says of the first jump. “He didn’t know what to do with this new thing that he had no control over. He couldn’t even watch!”
CANDIDE & CR CHANGE THE FACE OF HALFPIPE SKIING
Halfpipe skiing was widely considered a joke to snowboarders, the general public — even some of the ski industry. Candide’s gold medal run, and CR’s lofty 900s at Winter X Games VII, set the bar for what halfpipe skiing would become. Candide boosting higher than the snowboarders garnered the respect skiing needed to legitimize its place in the halfpipe. Massive airs, technical tricks and unique style not only rocketed Candide into first place, but exhibited what skiers could do in the pipe. “Candide had an incredible performance in the X Games when he won superpipe in 2003. It was one of the first times a skier outperformed the snowboarders,” says photographer Scott Markewitz.
