Skiing was Dallas LeBeau's absolute passion, and his daredevil feats had made the 21-year-old known in the skiing world—but he was not as successful as he wanted to be, and was determined to make a name for himself. His idea—to jump a three-lane mountain highway in his home state of Colorado, a 40-foot stretch of pavement—was one his parents felt uncomfortable with. But, feeling powerless to stop their eldest child, they ultimately said goodbye to him on the morning of April 9, 2024, warning him to only make his attempt if it felt right. Within hours, their son was dead, as his parents and surviving brother recount in a heartbreaking Washington Post piece.
Though so many things weren't lining up ideally—an illness forced LeBeau to push his jump late into the season, the pass where he was jumping had gotten less snow than he'd been hoping for, and his left ski kept popping off as he warmed up for the stunt—he seemed to feel he had no choice but to make a go of it. He lost speed, and his friends, who were there filming him, watched in horror as he completed just one of his planned two backflips before plunging onto the pavement. He yelled "whoa" as he hit, then skidded across Highway 40 and into the guardrail. Emergency responders later said he died instantly. His parents are haunted with the question of whether they could have done more, but his dad also says, "If he had made that jump, what would have been the next thing, you know?" Read the piece in full at the Post. (More skiing stories.)
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