Professional skier Kyle Smaine has just died in Japan in an avalanche while practicing off-piste. A drama that shocks the entire profession.
The ski world is in mourning. This Sunday, January 29, professional skier Kyle Smaine died, swept away by an avalanche. In this month of January, many ski enthusiasts take advantage of the cold and the snowfall to practice this sliding sport. Many forget the dangerousness of this practice. When some leave resorts with injuries – last year, Sylvie Tellier was immobilized several weeks after a knee injury – others are surprised by natural phenomena. Off-piste is strongly discouraged, but that does not prevent some skiers from going against these indications. The consequences can be fatal, as Kyle Smaine’s drama proves.
Kyle Smaine died instantly
American Kyle Smaine had gone to Japan to take advantage of the cold snap and the good snow present on the ski slopes. But this snow outing didn’t go as planned. The professional was caught in an avalanche near the Otari station, along with four other people. According to the authorities, two men were killed by “heart failure” – formula used in Japan before death was confirmed by a forensic scientist – in this avalanche, while three other people managed to free themselves. Among the victims, the professional Kyle Smaine. A few hours earlier, he shared videos of the outings on the slopes.
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Hopes extinguished too soon
Kyle Smaine and the other victim were off-trailing with 11 other skiers and snowboarders when the avalanche hit. It was his photographer friend – who accompanied him – who announced the sad news on social networks. “My worst nightmare”said the latter, who explains that the avalanche was triggered by another skier and that Kyle Smaine has “was thrown 50 meters further by the blast of air, buried and killed”. The professional skier was only 31 years old. In 2018, he won the Mammoth Grand Prix, his first World Cup victory, allowing him to join the United States team at the Olympic Games. “It was my last chance to qualify for the Olympics. I won out of the blue”, had entrusted the champion to the press. Fate stopped short.
