The Powder Revolution (Part 3)
Shane McConkey hucking a a massive cliff ‘spread-eagle style” near Broken Arrow, Palisades Tahoe, California. pc pinterest
Match Made in Heaven
Skiing alongside experts like Robb and Scott Gaffney in the setting available to him at Squaw Valley, MC’s talent became readily apparent and his career exploded. It was a match made in heaven and he took advantage of it every chance he got.
MC won the South American Freeskiing Championship in Las Leñas, Argentina in 1994. Then in 1995 he won it again and also added the North American Freeskiing Championship in Crested Butte, Colorado. In early 1996, he won the Europe Freeskiing Championship and for a brief time was the undisputed top freeskier in the world. With his skyrocketing popularity and now sitting on the top of the world, MC also began staring in the ski films. Scott Gaffney said in another interview,
“We shot Walls of Freedom (1995) with a bunch of Tahoe locals, but Shane was just a level above. We shot two films that year and Shane made his mark – 1995 was the year Shane became the man… (because) Squaw, and by extension the rest of Tahoe, was the epicenter of the ski movie industry in the mid-1990s.”
In that same interview, pro freeskier Cody Townsend added,
“(MC) had an amazingly fluid style, making it all look very effortless while going completely balls to the wall. You don’t see that combination very often. Usually, you have the chargers that lack the grace or guys who are very fluid but are reluctant to go big.”
Shane McConkey rotating on another level at Palisades Tahoe, California. pc powder
Change of Opinion
In 1988, looking to get MC’s take on the latest variations of the Huckster, Volant R&D manager Peter Turner came out to Squaw Valley to give them a try. With a fatter waist and deeper sidecut, Volant thought these skis were going to take the powder skiing market once and for all. But to his surprise, he came away with an entirely different opinion. Describing the day’s events in another interview Turner explained,
“After testing I did a run off West Face, in Chute 75, and it was like, ‘Shit, these work really good.’ Then on the run-out, they were really weird-floppy. I pulled them off-they were just regular Chubbs- but when I put them together I realized why they didn’t ski right on the groomed run.” It turned out, those beat-up old Chubbs were completely bent up at the tips and tails.”
But it wasn’t clear until Scott Gaffney offered up the key insight saying, “I think my old, dead, decambered Chubbs float much better in the powder than those ones with new ski life or camber.” Although this may have shut the door on the new Hucksters, it certainly opened the discussion about MC’s ultimate ski design. And in the meantime, MC skied like an absolute pro dominating the ski film industry and ripping harder than almost everyone else.
The question still remained. If MC was so popular, skiing head and shoulders above everyone else, then why weren’t more people listening to his ideas? Actually, they were… at least Volant was.
Shane McConkey describing how it all works at home base “Squaw Valley USA”, now Palisades Tahoe, California. pc snowbrains
A Low-Risk Strategy
Two brothers Hank and Bucky Kashiwa started Volant in 1989 with the solution of adding ‘steep caps’ to skis in order to improve their stability and performance. The idea was novel and the design totally unproven. In 1994, Volant diversified internationally with the acquisition of Aggression Snowboards. Volant wanted to manage their high costs of business by using economies of scale and a Canadian manufacturing facility. Ascension went on to make the industry’s first steel-capped snowboard, but quickly became a financial problem for Volant when it had difficulty executing the strategy.
Inside Volant’s headquarters, MC’s ultimate ski design bounced around untested and unproven with little interest in its unique shape and dimensions. Pouring valuable time and money into developing it and was one hurdle, but selling it was another. There were no proven market examples to estimate revenues. It was nothing short of a gamble, even if the design was endorsed by the world’s best freeskier. It simply wasn’t a risk Volant wanted to take.
Shane Mcconkey with his first batch of Volant Spatulas just out of production. pc freeride
Stay tuned! Tomorrow we’re back to see how McConkey finally got his ultimate ski design to market.