Idaho outdoors community remembers ‘legend’ Jim Grossman. He died kayaking on Memorial Day
Jim Grossman was one with the river.
The 56-year-old Sun Valley resident, who died in a kayaking accident Monday, was a class five kayaker and well-known in Idaho’s outdoors, philanthropy and conservation communities.
“It just kind of rips my heart out to hear about it,” said Steve Stuebner, an outdoor author who met Grossman in the 1980s, when both men lived in Boise.
Grossman was riding the South Fork of the Salmon River on Memorial Day when he approached the Fall Creek rapid — which is the biggest and last drop on the South Fork, Stuebner said, speaking by phone.
“It was super big, hairy, high water and something must have happened as he was running the rapid, where he couldn’t make his roll or tried to swim and drowned apparently,” Stuebner said.
The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office found Grossman’s body near the Fall Creek area, according to a Tuesday news release. Idaho County Coroner Cody Funke told the Statesman by email that Grossman’s cause of death was drowning.
Grossman was kayaking the North Fork of the Payette River by the time he was a teenager, Stuebner said. In recent years, that river section has served as the site of the North Fork Championship, which is regarded as one of the most challenging whitewater competitions in the world, according to American Whitewater, a river conservation nonprofit.
In a Facebook post, Corridor Surf Shop & Necessary Goods of Garden City called Grossman an “absolute legend.”
“We lost a great friend, father, athlete, adventurer and human being this week. Our hearts, tears and prayers go out to the Grossman family,” the shop’s post said. “For anyone who loves the river in any context, he was likely there first.”
The World Championships of Surfkayaking’s Facebook page remembered Grossman as a leader within the surfkayaking community.
“A brilliant athlete, fierce and courageous competitor, larger-than-life personality with an infectious sense of fun,” the page said. “Jim was also an incredibly kind, thoughtful father and friend.”
Grossman’s ties to the Boise area
Grossman was influential in developing Hidden Springs, a planned community located within the northwest portion of the Boise Foothills.
The over 800-acre community was designed to encourage walking and biking to stores and community centers. Grossman told the Statesman in 1996 that he envisioned more than 30 miles of paths for mountain biking, hiking and equestrian trails.
Today, that vision is a reality.
Hidden Springs now features miles of trails and has plans to create more, according to the community’s website.
Stuebner, a longtime Boise resident, told the Statesman that he and Grossman biked along what would become Red Tail Trail — a 7.1-mile loop near Hidden Springs — to try and figure out the best place to create the trail.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean told the Statesman via email that she’d known Grossman for almost 20 years. Grossman was a prominent supporter of open spaces within the foothills — something McLean has supported in recent years.
“Jim was an extraordinary conservationist, father, philanthropist and friend,” McLean said in the statement. “My deepest condolences go out to Jim’s family, especially his two children. I’ll think of him and the impact he had on our state and community every time I visit Peggy’s Trail in the foothills.”
Aside from his passion for the outdoors, Grossman, along with his then-wife Pirie Grossman, brought the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games to Idaho, the Statesman reported in 2006.
The two brought in well-known supporters including Picabo Street, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry, according to prior Statesman coverage.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 5:03 PM.
