Dallas LeBeau, 21, died after attempting to jump across Berthoud Pass on U.S. Highway 40 on April 9. The maneuver is known as a road gap jump within the ski community. Road gap jumps draw in skiers looking to make a name for themselves because of the planning, athleticism and courage needed to pull it off. There is something especially enticing about this stunt because it can’t be performed in a traditional ski resort or park.

But Dallas lacked the necessary speed and distance to complete the jump, making it fatal, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office’s preliminary investigation. Individuals at the scene did perform CPR on Dallas and he was wearing a helmet and protective gear. However, emergency responders determined that he was dead upon their arrival. This accident was a reminder to many about the risks associated with stunts like these.

Dallas had experience with big jumps before, but Valerie LeBeau, who is Dallas’ mom, told SkiMag.com that he had never tried a road gap jump before this incident.

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Valerie also told SKI that Dallas had been working towards completing the run for over a month before the incident. Dallas had plans to submit a video of him completing the jump to GoPro’s Line of the Year contest. The contest aims to discover the “most insane GoPro POV ski and snowboard lines.” Winning videos are posted onto GoPro’s Instagram with prizes up to $30,000 available.

GoPro did not respond to any inquiries Sky-Hi News sent.

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Dallas posted his impressive ski feats to his Instagram under the username “b00nie_rat,” a nickname from his friends. The skiing content on his Instagram is fun, high-energy, boyish and effortlessly cool.

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A post shared by ✞???? Dallas LeBeau ????✞ (@b00nie_rat)

Dallas had been skiing competitively since he was 8 years old. He even recently competed with hopes of qualifying for the Freeride World Tour, an annual series where freeride skiers and snowboarders compete for individual event wins.

Kayla Riker is the head big mountain coach at the Winter Park Competition Center and explained that freeride takes place on mountains on steep, cliffy terrain. She said that skiers are scored on “how well they ski involving control, technique, fluidity, their line choice and style/energy.”

She described the Freeride World Tour as the sport’s “Olympics.”

“The sport is centered around going big, while being safe, and inserting your own style of skiing into your run,” Riker explained.

Dallas grew up in Gilpin County, however he had many connections to Grand County. He even became a part-time big mountain coach at the Winter Park Competition Center.

After graduating high school, he worked a variety of jobs while also skiing and creating content. He worked at Highland Marina in Granby under former ski coach, the late Matthew Niedermeyer. He also worked remodeling condos in Winter Park. During the summers while he was working, Valerie said that he would stay at the family’s condo in Winter Park.

Dallas was hired by Riker at the beginning of this year.

“He was a godsend for the program as we needed someone with his ability and passion for big mountain skiing,” Riker said.

The big mountain program trains athletes in technical skiing on groomers, back bowls, bumps and eventually work towards to air awareness and tricks, according to Riker.

“He loved that he was getting paid to ski. He volunteered to go out of town and coach as many out-of-town competitions as he could and loved to pick up extra shifts when the full-time coaches needed a day off,” Valerie said.

Riker continued to say that the big mountain team was “lucky” to have Dallas this winter and that the team “will carry him with us forever.”

“Dallas was a fantastic coach as he was relatable, energetic, young and so he connected with the kids really well,” Riker said.

He’s described as a thrill-seeker by family and friends.

Valerie said he “cared about everyone and wanted everyone to have a good time. He thought everyone should learn to ski or snowboard.”

Jaxson Holme, 20, was a friend and coworker to Dallas. He grew up in Tabernash and skied with the Winter Park Competition Center where he met Dallas.

“Dallas had a genuine love for skiing and all it offered to him. Even the times where he injured himself, I don’t think he would rewind time, because he truly was living in the moment all of the time when he was skiing,” Jaxson said.

A childhood friend of Dallas’, Devin Shirk, started a GoFundMe for funeral costs and other expenses for his family. The fund quickly surpassed its goal of $20,000 and raised a total of $56,403.

“The GoFundMe amazed me, as did the amount of media attention Dallas’ tragic accident has created,” Valerie said.

The excess donations went to a memorial fund, in collaboration with Friends of Berthoud Pass, to teach backcountry safety to a younger demographic than traditional backcountry courses do. Friends of Berthoud Pass is a nonprofit, collective of backcountry enthusiasts committed to preserving the legacy of public recreation at Berthoud Pass. Bob Holme – Jaxson’s father – is Winter Park Resort director of mountain maintenance, he spearheaded the development of the memorial fund.

“I hope that the class being developed will help educate other skiers and snowboarders to consider all aspects of any stunts they are planning so they can execute them safely or know when to abandon them,” Valerie said.

Donations can still be made to the fund by donating to Friends of Berthoud Pass and emailing info@berthoudpass.org to designate the donation to Dallas’ fund.

Jaxson hopes others can learn from this avoidable accident.

He cautioned others, “If people who you are close with offer their opinion, good or bad, and give you reasons why, take a second to reevaluate and actually think about what they said, and why they would have said it.”