Shaun “Napalm” Palmer was one of the biggest stars of both downhill mountain biking and snowboarding. Now 56, Palmer was an amazingly talented downhill racer in his prime.
He took second place in the 1996 Downhill World Championships, only 0.15 seconds slower than Nicolas Vouilloz. Farther back were some of the biggest stars of the sport, including Eric Carter, Mike King, Brian Lopes, Dave Cullinan, and John Tomac (who was 9.85 seconds slower than Palmer).
During his career, Palmer competed in the pro ranks in skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and motocross. “Whether it was on wheels or on a board, it had to be super fast,” Palmer’s mother told People Magazine in 1999. “He had no fear. I remember once when he was 13, I had grounded him. Well, he jumped out of his second-floor bedroom window, got on his bike and took off. He was like that—always pushing the limits.”
Shaun Palmer talks about his peak years of racing mountain bikes on his Instagram page: “So ’95, I was semi-pro, and I was winning like mountain bike races in Big Bear, and I would be racing the Swatch Boardercross Tour, too. It really got hectic. I was in Europe, like, nine, 10 times a year, doing both mountain biking and snowboarding, and then ’96, I would do a full season and completely pay for it myself, and blow these companies through the roof.”
“So ’97 was a big year for me. X Games started. I signed with Specialized Bicycles. I wanted to do boardercross, skier-cross, snowmobiles and the bikes on snow again. So it’s like I was trying to do four sports, and it was just insanity, and I ended up winning the boardercross gold.”
In 1998 Palmer qualified for the 125cc main event in the L.A. Coliseum Supercross race. He finished 22nd, but said that making the main event meant more to him than any world championship in snowboarding. That same year USA Today published a story about him titled, “Is This the World’s Greatest Athlete?”
In 1999 Palmer won the dual-slalom title at the NORBA National Mountain Bike Championships. He also won the World Cup downhill event at Big Bear, California, that year, beating Steve Peat (second), Nicolas Vouilloz (sixth), Greg Minnaar (eighth), Myles Rockwell (13th) and Mike King (14th), who all won UCI Downhill World Championships in their careers.
In 2000 Palmer won the Alternative Sportsperson of the Year award, beating out Travis Pastrana and Tony Hawk.
During his career, Palmer also won six gold medals in the X Games and five world championships in snowboarding.