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On Sunday, January 29, Kyle Smaine, a skier from California’s South Lake Tahoe, lost his life in an avalanche while skiing in Japan. The 31-year-old went on a trip with several other skiers, including Adam Ü, an American pro skier, and a photographer, Grant Gunderson. The avalanche in question had a two-meter-long crown.
Kyle Smaine participated at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, winning gold. At the 2018 Olympics, he was the first alternate for the USA Olympic Alpine Skiing Team.
Kyle Smaine had been a legend in the ski community. In May 2014, he graduated from Sierra Nevada College (now the University of Nevada) with a 3.95 GPA. As a rookie, he ranked 9th in the Men’s Ski SuperPipe at X Games Aspen 2016.
The ski racer was born on June 27, 1991. His hobbies included mountain biking, rock climbing, and surfing. In a 2014 interview, Smaine shared that someday, he wants to be the best skier in the world. He said he wanted to try big mountain skiing.
Smaine said he used to practice his skiing techniques at his home mountain, the Sierra Nevada at Tahoe. He shared how he realized that being a professional skier for a lifetime is hard, so he tries to enjoy it.
Kyle Smaine shared his last Instagram post on the day he died; netizens mourn the loss
Smaine was quite active on Instagram, where he has a following of over 28k. His feed consists of photos and videos of his skiing adventures. The ski racer even posted on Sunday before his tragic passing.
It was a video of him skiing while in Japan. Smaine also added the song Good as Hell by Lizzo featuring Ariana Grande. Take a look at the post below:
After news of his untimely death surfaced online, people went to the comments section to share their condolences. Many, who knew Kyle Smaine from before, reminisced about their skiing adventures.
How did Kyle Smaine die?
According to Grant Gunderson, who met Smaine on the trip, the ski racer was on a marketing trip for Nagano Tourism and Ikon Pass when he died. One of the people on the trip said that three skiers went free skiing on Sunday afternoon after deciding to take the last run of the day.
The group ran into another group of skiers who came from Austria. The Austrian group decided on a slightly different aspect of skiing with a different exposure.
While another skier, Adam Ü and Kyle Smaine, were at the bottom of the run, working to transition backcountry gear to climb up the mountain, the first group of Austrian skiers joined them. That’s when the second of the skiers from Austria triggered the avalanche.
An Austrian skier, along with Smaine and Ü, stayed buried under the snow. However, Ü was at a depth of 1.5 meters for 25 minutes, after which he was rescued unscathed.
According to Gunderson, a group including 4-5 emergency medical professionals who went as clients and two Canadian mountain guides were in the area. They were the ones to perform the rescue.
The incident occurred at around 2.30 pm local time on the slopes of Hakuba Norikura mountain (8100 ft). Unfortunately, Kyle Smaine and another Austrian skier could not be saved. Two other Austrian skiers have also been missing since the avalanche.
