Tragic news from the world of skiing today.
Professional skier C.R. Johnson has died at California’s Squaw Valley while doing a steep run and smashing his head into a rock outcropping.
Jim Rogers with the the resort’s ski patrol in Lake Tahoe says Johnson had been skiing with some friends on Wednesday when he fell while attempting to navigate a “very, very tight, rocky area.”
Johnson was 26 years old.
He fell face-first, then got spun around and smacked the back of his head on the rocks. He was wearing a helmet at the time, although in this case, it didn’t seem to matter much given the force of the impact.
Ski patrol members were called to the scene just before 2 p.m. local time but were unable to revive the skier.
Johnson competed in superpipe and halfpipe skiing at events such as the X Games. He had rebounded from a serious injury that he suffered during a competition back in 2005 that put him in a coma for several months.
“This is a man of very, very strong skiing talent,” Rogers said. “This young man had been a fixture here at Squaw Valley for years. He grew up at Squaw Valley.”
Johnson, whose first name was Charles, was well aware of how fragile life can be. He had posted the following statement his MySpace page:
“I feel it’s most important to keep it real and enjoy each moment, you know, take advantage of every opportunity life provides, because who knows what tomorrow may bring.”
You can see video of Johnson at his best back in 2006 below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwaoBoFtkqg
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- C.R. Johnson DEAD: Died In Horrific Ski Crash (huffingtonpost.com)
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- Professional free skier dies during California run (sports.espn.go.com)
- X-Games skier dies after fall at Squaw Valley (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
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