Stunt costs boarder's life 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
The media story is listed below with a link to the newspaper's website.
What do winter sports buffs do in the off- season? Get themselves nominated to the Darwin Awards, of course!!
Josh Chapman, a 23 year old professional stunt snowboarder and snowmobiler, decided to impress his friends and improve the genepool at a birthday party on July 20, 2002, in Squamish, outside of Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia, Canada.
The summer weather was no deterrent to this brave soul as his friends videotaped the stunt which ultimately cost Chapman his life. They poured gasoline onto the roadway and set it aflame and Chapman drove his snowmobile through the resultant fireball.
The snowmobile and Chapman both caught ablaze. Chapman was severely burned over his entire body but survived for three weeks in hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
According to Dave Craig who witnessed the incident "It was just because he was drunk. It was a party and everyone else was drunk."
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http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/story.asp?id={469F8FB9-6CC5-48CF-B1FA-E47E298CD673} (website link)
Stunt costs boarder's life
World-class athlete succumbs to burns three weeks after driving into fireball
att Hoekstra
The Province
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
A world-class snowboarder severely burned last month during a stunt with a snowmobile has died from his injuries.
Josh Chapman, 23, passed away Monday in Vancouver General Hospital, where he was being treated for severe burns to his entire body suffered in the July 20 mishap in Squamish.
The RCMP and the B.C. Coroner's Service are investigating the incident, which was caught on videotape at a birthday party attended by about 60 people.
Dave Craig, who was at the party and has filmed freestyle snowmobile videos in the past, said Chapman's stunt of driving his snowmobile down a road and through a ball of flaming gasoline had nothing to do with making a film.
"It was just because he was drunk," Craig said. "It was a party and everyone else was drunk."
Police have seized two videos taken of the Whistler man's fatal trick.
The news of Chapman's death shocked local snowboarders, who knew him for his snowboarding and snowmobile-riding skills.
He competed in major snowboarding events around North America, including last December's Nokia Snowboard World Cup in Whistler, where he placed fourth in the Big Air event.
Chapman's brother Jay, also a snowboarder, is preparing a special video for his brother's funeral this weekend.
Shane McKinney, a friend of Chapman whose snowboard company, Invasion, sponsored him, said he was surprised by his death.
cKinney, who had been planning to visit his friend yesterday morning, last heard Chapman underwent a successful skin-graft operation.
"He had an excellent career ahead of him," McKinney said. "He'd been invited to the Superpark [competition] by Snowboarder magazine and had apparently blown minds there."
The magazine will feature Chapman later this fall, he said.
"With the way he had been performing he was probably our top athlete," said McKinney, whose company sponsors four boarders.
Chapman was also considered a professional snowmobile rider, competing in a number of contests each year.
Chapman was already making a living doing what he loved. Adding to the salary he collected from his main sponsors were contest winnings and other sponsorship deals.
"He was an amazing guy," McKinney said. "With the skills that he had for snowboarding, you would have expected him to have a much bigger ego than he did."
Carlo Wein of Alterna Action Films featured the rider in several of his snowboarding videos.
He said his friend of seven years was just beginning to be recognized in the sport.
"He was always up for anything and had a lot of energy," he said. "He put in a lot of time and effort and it was just starting to pay off for him."
mhoekstra@pacpress.southam.ca
© Copyright 2002 The Province Submitted on 08/07/2002
Submitted by:
ac
Reference:
Vancouver Province 2002-08-07
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
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