FOX31 Denver
A 21-year-old skier by the name of Dallas LeBeau died last week following a failed jump along Colorado’s Highway 40. LeBeau had tried to clear a road gap over a three-lane highway on April 9, but fell short and landed on the highway pavement.
Bystanders administered CPR while waiting for emergency responders but LeBeau died before they arrived at the scene of the accident.
“The preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was attempting to perform a high-risk skiing stunt by trying to clear the width of U.S. 40 and unfortunately lacked the necessary speed and distance and subsequently landed on the highway pavement,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “The victim had been wearing a helmet and other protective gear.
The news has sent shockwaves through the backcountry skiing community, as well as the Denver locals who knew of LeBeau. According to Dallas’s mother Valerie LeBeau, he had been preparing for the attempt for at least a month while building the jump with friends.
She told SKI magazine that Dallas got sick just before the date he’d originally planned his attempt and the jump was pushed back about 10 days. Although weather and time had changed the conditions, they believed there was still good snow on the run. Valerie LeBeau told SKI magazine she believes enough snow melted in that 10-day delay to slow Dallas’s approach and lead him to land short. She also told the publication he’d planned to submit the footage to GoPro’s Line of the Winter social media contest and he had also planned to hit a double backflip in Jackson Hole’s Corbet’s Couloir.
“Dallas first put on skis before he could walk in our driveway, and we would pull him up and down,” she told them in an email. “Dallas loved skiing the entire mountain. He often went storm chasing to Wolf Creek for any big snowfall he could get to. He dreamed of making the Freeride World Tour and traveling the world skiing and competing.”
Devin Shirk, a close friend of Dallas’s since they were toddlers, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the LeBeau family with funeral expenses. Shirk set the original goal of the fundraiser at $20,000 and that number was reached in just a matter of days, more than doubling the original mark.
“This community has truly shown how loved and appreciated Dallas was,” he wrote about the response. “Valerie and his family wanted an update to be known. That since this Fund has surpassed the goal by miles. Any excess funds after Dallas’s funeral expenses are paid for, will go towards a memorial fund in Dallas’s memory to teach backcountry safety to a younger demographic than traditional courses. Thank you.”
