Bill Johnson RIP (not really dead yet)

[Johnny Style]

 

Brash American skier elects to leave hospital, pull plug: https://skiracing.com/?q=node/21941

 

Why he matters...

 

His Olympic run and bio piece:

 

His movie: http://www.downhillbill.com/

 

The image above influenced many skiers back in the 80s. I switched from Olin to Atomic after seeing him. Anybody from my generation knows what "Ride the Red Sled" means because of Bill. When Bill tried a comeback at age 41 he still wore that sweet pink striped Descente suit. He put Flexons on the map. He signed his posters with the saying he had tattooed on his arm, "SKI TO DIE."

 

Of course he burned out as quickly as he lit the ski world on fire back in 1984. His is an exciting yet tragic story.

 

 

 

 

Heck, he even had a movie made about his story starring Anthony Edwards.

 

[sibhusky]

But.. He's not dead, yet, right?

[Johnny Style]

Just realized, not dead. Mods please delete.

[Johnny Law]

I vote leave it up, according to the link he's on borrowed time anyways and the video above is a solid 10. Quality post JS.

[toast21602]

sad to hear about the future loss of this guy. just learned more about him than I ever expected - thanks for the links.

[Mixilplix]

Good post...I remember one of my buds gettin those Flexon Comps when they came out.....

[mbike-ski]

I had forgotten about bill johnson, an American classic for sure. Thanks for posting!

[sibhusky]

The comeback crash.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=99762&page=1#.UeYZEPPnaaw

[RootDKJ]

Just realized, not dead. Mods please delete.

 

I edited the title.

[AngryHugo]

I miss him already

[Johnny Style]

ESPN E:60 will broadcast a new feature on Bill tomorrow night (Tues 10/29) at seven p.m.

 

http://youtu.be/dY7C3OUhqNQ