Christopher Jerard | Kahlil Johnson | Tanner Hall | Mike Laroche | Scott Gaffney | Matt Sterbenz Tag Kleiner | Ladd Williams | Lorraine Johnson
View the CR memorial photo gallery from our tribute issue.
SCOTT GAFFNEY, CINEMATOGRAPHER
I remember one day I was skiing with CR who was just 15 at the time and we went down to the Fingers at Squaw. He just took off and headed right in. It took me years to get a comfort level in them. He left a trail of cold smoke heading into the most technical part. To see a kid at that age… it's like Sean Pettit, before Sean Pettit.
It was a different era when CR came out, too. There weren't thousands of kids who could throw cork 900s in the park, he really stood out and he did it with ease. Of course now everyone is striving to be the best skier out there by incorporating everything on the mountain. But CR was doing it a decade ago at such a young age.
"After the injury, I think he appreciated the ride and everything so much more. He took pleasure in a lot of the smaller things in life."
The injury changed him as a person. CR was always a very personable, friendly, nice guy, but he had a cockiness and a swagger to him. After the injury, I think he appreciated the ride and everything so much more. He took pleasure in a lot of the smaller things in life.
I was talking to his mother, Lorraine, one day shortly after his accident in Utah. She was in the hospital, out in the hallway, while Rusty [CR's dad] was beside him. At the time, it was the toughest phone conversation I'd ever had. Lorraine was telling me how Russ was in there, holding CR's hand, just crying, I can't lose my son. I can't lose my son.
Hearing a parent grieving like that will stick with me for the rest of my life, especially now that I am a dad. It's incredible to think that Russ went from those depths to the joy of skiing with CR on KT-22 in just two months.
After his injury he was so proud of taking third at the Red Bull Linecatcher. It was kind of validation for him. You don't really need validation for putting in that effort, but still, having a number on it and standing on a podium with Candide and Pettit was a huge moment for him.
P: Scott Markewitz
Ingrid Backstrom and I drove home from Whistler and pulled into Tahoe the morning of February 24 last winter. Unfortunately, a car accident blocked traffic on 89 as it neared Squaw. CR pulled up directly behind us on the way to the mountain, and we all got out and stood around and chatted. We shared a few laughs and CR pointed out some lines he'd been scoping off of Painted Rock.
'I really want to slash that ridgeline. How sick would that be making a turn right there?' he said, pointing to a spot where slashing a turn would send snow flying off an 80-foot cliff. We said our goodbyes. About an hour and a half later, I got a distressed call from Ingrid as she was watching patrollers try to revive CR.
I feel a weird thankfulness for those people who were involved in that car accident that closed the road and gave me a final few moments with a friend. And I can never drive from Truckee to Squaw anymore without looking up and picturing CR slashing that turn he wanted so badly.
View the CR memorial photo gallery from our tribute issue.
Christopher Jerard | Kahlil Johnson | Tanner Hall | Mike Laroche | Scott Gaffney | Matt Sterbenz Tag Kleiner | Ladd Williams | Lorraine Johnson
