SAM Magazine-Squaw Valley, Calif., Feb. 25, 2010-C.R. Johnson, 26, died yesterday while skiing at his home mountain, Squaw Valley, after he fell several hundred yards through exposed rocks. Ski Patrol were on the scene within minutes, but efforts to revive Johnson failed. He was reportedly wearing a helmet.

Johnson was a pipe and park legend. He took a bronze medal at the 2001 Winter X Games in big air and silver in 2002 for slopestyle. More than that, though, he was known for going bigger than anyone else in the pipe. A traumatic brain injury in 2005, suffered after another skier collided with him, sidetracked his career. He had made a steady recovery in recent years, and placed third in the Red Bull Linecatcher event in the French Alps earlier this winter.

Johnson was also instrumental in bringing park-style skiing to the backcountry. His film segments earlier in this decade helped speed the evolution of freestyle backcountry skiing. His showing at the Linecatcher this year showed he was returning to his pre-injury form.

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