The skiing community has lost a gem. While on a work trip in Japan, former world champion Kyle Smaine passed away in an accident on Sunday, the 29th of January, 2023. The skier got caught in an avalanche, and couldn’t get rescued in time. The news was confirmed by his family.

The skier was looking forward to a good time in Japan, however, an unfortunate incident took away his life. Smaine was not the only person present there when the avalanche caught the skiers surfing in the mountains of Japan.

The Natural Disaster That Killed Kyle Smaine

The calamity happened on the east slope of Mount Hakuba Norikura in Japan. Smaine had gone to visit Japan for a marketing campaign for Ikon Pass and Nagano Tourism. Along with him, there were four other skiers. Some were from the US, others belonged to Austria. When the avalanche struck, all five of them got caught under the snow. While three were able to make it out safely, the other two were not so lucky.

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Kyle Smaine, aged 31, was one of the unlucky ones. The other was an Austrian skier whose identity is not yet confirmed. Adam U, an American skier, was also present with Smaine. He described the incident to Mountain Gazette, and said, “We saw it coming. We heard the crack. We realized it is a big one. We started running and then we got hit.” U was stuck 1.5 m under the snow for almost half an hour but was rescued by the authorities.

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A team of doctors who had gone to the mountains with the group tried to provide emergency care to the two victims, including Smaine. However, their efforts went in vain, and the 31-year-old was declared unresponsive. When the news of his death broke out, several fellow skiers paid tribute to the former world champion.

Tributes to the Fallen skiing Legend

According to the Guardian, the two-time Olympic halfpipe skiing champion David Wise said, “We all did this for Kyle tonight. It’s a little bit of an emotional day for us. We lost a friend.” Travis Ganong, also a World Cup skier as well as an Olympian, posted a heartfelt Tweet and wrote, “Heartbroken to hear of the passing of my friend #kylesmaine . He loved skiing more than anyone I knew, you will be missed.”

Even though Smaine retired from professional skiing in 2018, he was still a beloved figure in the skiing community. This despairing news definitely comes as a shock to his friends, followers, and loved ones.

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