My brother Mark

[L Stegall]

I've not even taken a peek at the forum in the past week as I've been out of town and, as you'll see, quite busy. I learned late last Saturday night (3/19) that my wonderful little brother, Mark, had passed away very unexpectedly at Lake Tahoe. While we don't yet know what happened exactly, we do know he had a bad crash during a training run about a week before that (he was coaching a very promising up and coming snowboarder and he was also training to defend his own boardercross title (for the 7th time in a row). He was wearing a helmet, but he told my mom that he didn't think he had a concussion and that he'd had way worse crashes in the past, but he complained of back pain and abdominal pain and although he was in touch with people for a few days, he didn't show up for training two days in a row and people got worried and came to his house and found him. So, we have to wait for the autopsy results to come back (maybe 12-13 weeks), but we feel sure that he had a much more serious internal or head injury than he realized.

He had just turned 48 and was a professional snowboarder (in his prior life, he'd been a professional photographer in Beaver Creek and a rode jet skis on the pro tour as well) and, even more importantly, one of the absolute best coaches and mentors around. I know none of you probably knew him, although he did graduate from Lamar High School in Arlington (I think Class of '82) but I wanted to share the link from Mt. Hood (where he was the head snowboard race coach for their summer program). As stunned as we've been at the news, we've been overwhelmed by the comments about his kindness, his generosity, his warmth, his ability to make everyone feel like they were his best friend, his talents as a coach and, more importantly, a mentor for life, his humor, his intelligence. He was a competitor to the core, but one who was gracious in winning and in defeat. He was exceptionally generous. We are, as you can imagine, absolutely shattered. My parents are in their 80's and having a tough time of it right now.

My sister and I have been invited to the Nationals at Copper Mountain next week to get up on the podium and present the medals in his favorite event and to recognize him there. We feel very honored.

Anyway, since this forum is "family" of sorts, just wanted to share.

Mt Hood link: Mark Stegall

Anyone on facebook can also check this out: Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More

There are some great images, stories, videos, etc.

[groovyone]

Wow, so sorry to hear that Lisa!

[Sonny]

My condolences to you and your family Lisa.

[tomdrink]

Originally Posted by L Stegall

Anyway, since this forum is "family" of sorts, just wanted to share.

And, as part of your "family", we share in your loss. But it is nice to be able to present those medals, in his honor!
Let us know how it turns out.
TomD

[Tom]

My prayers are with you and your family.

[KenJulio]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

[L Stegall]

Thank you guys. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of him. I took the b/w one on our last ski trip to Tahoe. He just seems to radiate happiness. The others are ones his friends posted, including his gold medal in Boardercross at the 2010 Nationals, his favorite event. He is actually surfing on a lake in Idaho behind a boat's wake. He was also seriously into surfing.

[Tom]

He didn't take pictures on the mountain at Beaver Creek/Vail in 2003ish of tourist skiiers and snowboarders, then sell them to the tourists, did he?

[L Stegall]

Thomas, when he first got up there, he did, but that would have been back in the 90's. Why, were you up there in 2003~ish? He probably still knew people there then. He had friends at every ski resort I've ever been to in the US....Vail, Beaver Creek, Telluride, Northstar, Alpine Meadow, Squaw, etc., etc., etc. He just wanted to go live in the mountains and ski and that was a means to an end. But, unlike a lot of the people they hire, he actually knew what he was doing and was good at it. One funny story is that, his first year, he was standing at the base of the mountain in his Sharpshooter jacket and a woman walked up to him and asked if he was a photographer. Why yes, he was. The conversation went along these lines: "Oh good, can you come to our room and take some photos?" My brother paused, "uh, okay...where are you staying?" "Hyatt" (right at base). "Oh, okay, what room are you in." "The penthouse." "Okay, what's your name?" "Kathie Lee." My brother, clueless to daytime TV then asked, "well okay, what's your last name?" Answer: "Gifford." Mark still had no idea. He comes up there, meets Frank. Hmmm, he looks familiar. Anyway, shot their family Christmas cards and portraits and they ordered something like $1200 worth of prints from him. He said every time he saw them after that, she remembered his name and was always very nice.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by L Stegall

Thomas, when he first got up there, he did, but that would have been back in the 90's. Why, were you up there in 2003~ish? He probably still knew people there then. He had friends at every ski resort I've ever been to in the US....Vail, Beaver Creek, Telluride, Northstar, Alpine Meadow, Squaw, etc., etc., etc. He just wanted to go live in the mountains and ski and that was a means to an end. But, unlike a lot of the people they hire, he actually knew what he was doing and was good at it. One funny story is that, his first year, he was standing at the base of the mountain in his Sharpshooter jacket and a woman walked up to him and asked if he was a photographer. Why yes, he was. The conversation went along these lines: "Oh good, can you come to our room and take some photos?" My brother paused, "uh, okay...where are you staying?" "Hyatt" (right at base). "Oh, okay, what room are you in." "The penthouse." "Okay, what's your name?" "Kathie Lee." My brother, clueless to daytime TV then asked, "well okay, what's your last name?" Answer: "Gifford." Mark still had no idea. He comes up there, meets Frank. Hmmm, he looks familiar. Anyway, shot their family Christmas cards and portraits and they ordered something like $1200 worth of prints from him. He said every time he say them after that, she remembered his name and was always very nice.

Now that is an amazing story! Probably worked out better that he didn't know them.

[Tom]

Thomas, when he first got up there, he did, but that would have been back in the 90's. Why, were you up there in 2003~ish?

I went on a ski trip to Vail/BC and had my pic taken by someone who looked like him. Think I paid $45 for a couple 8x10s.

[L Stegall]

Thomas, he had some other good ones to tell once he got to know you....like smoking Vanilla Ice in a jet ski race years ago. He was particularly proud of that. He wasn't a big Ice, Ice baby fan. He was actually a really low key guy, didn't brag at all about his accomplishments.

As I was listening to the Ticket this morning and their recounting of Dez Bryant's recent escapades, it struck me how different the spoiled superstar athletes are from those guys who toil away with much less publicity and money.

[L Stegall]

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

I went on a ski trip to Vail/BC and had my pic taken by someone who looked like him. Think I paid $45 for a couple 8x10s.

Absolutely could have been. He enjoyed stopping in from time to time and helping them out on occasion. Entirely possible. That would be cool, actually.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Sorry for your loss Lisa!
My condolences to your whole family.

Great spirit and insight into your brother's life.

[L Stegall]

Thanks Greg. He was truly an amazing guy.