Earlier this week C.R. Johnson - longtime admired by TCD staff members - died after a crash at Squaw Valley. His death was tragic, as is the untimely death of any young person (he was 26), but his story is amazing and it's hard to find another person with the same heart that C.R. had.
In 2005, he was in a near fatal ski crash that left him in a coma. When he emerged he had to re-learn everything - talking, walking, etc - and his skiing again was a far off dream for his family. He defied all odds and was back on skis, back in his usual progressive form in only a couple of years. When he died this week he was skiing the in-bounds steeps at Squaw that he had hucked and straight-lined many times before and just caught an edge. The crash, and subsequent slide through that no-fall zone was just too much for him even with a helmet on.
He had a ton of competition credentials including X Games medals and was a pioneer in slopestyle and big air freeskiing. He could also shred the backcountry and was a frequent skier with the Matchstick Productions crew out of Crested Butte. Side note: he was one of the stars of my favorite ski movie "Immersion."
By all accounts, he was just damn good dude too.
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