On Sunday, a tragic incident took away the life of an American professional freestyle skier, Kyle Smaine. He was caught in an avalanche in Japan. Smaine was a former halfpipe world champion skier who took retirement in 2018 after ten years of his professional career.
Death Announcement of Kyle Smaine
Smaine’s death was confirmed by his newlywed wife, Jenna Dramise, on Facebook in a statement on Monday, which reads:
“Dear Husband and my whole world officially married November 18, 2022, which not many people knew about,”
“I’m so incredibly thankful that I got to marry you and have you in my life. You loved skiing more then anyone I’ve ever met.”
Image Source: Fox Weather
How and what Happened?
On Sunday, a group of five skiers from the US and Austria caught up in an avalanche on Nagano prefecture’s Mount Hakuba Norikura. Among all five, three made their way to climb the mountain, but unfortunately, Smaine and another person, whose identification has not been made yet, were found unconscious.
Smaine also shared a video on Instagram a few hours before his tragic demise, captioning it: “this is what brings me back to Japan each winter. Unbelievable snow quality, non-stop storms, and really fun terrain that seems to get better then more exploring you do.”
Among the group, one American skier who was buried under five feet of snow for about 25 minutes before the rescue teams saved his life said to Mountain Gazette:
“We saw it coming, U told the outlet. We heard the crack. We realized: ‘It is a big one.’ We started running and then we got hit.”
An avalanche warning was also issued by Japanese weather authorities for the area.
According to the outlet reports, Smaine died as he was thrown over 164 feet into the air, while the other man died from internal wounds.
Who was Kyle Smaine? A More About the Former World Champion Skier
Image Source: Republic monitor
Kyle Smaine was an American professional freestyle skier, a native of Lake Tahoe, California. His professional career lasted for ten years and included a gold medal in the halfpipe at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding Championships in 2015. He took his retirement in 2018. He was 31 at the time of his death.
Tributes Surfaced Online
Following his demise, tributes began flooding social media. Many people are paying tribute to the divine soul. May his soul rest in peace forever.
US Freeski Team on Instagram wrote: “today we lost an incredible person, friend, skier and teammate to the mountains.”
Fellow Athletes paying tribute: “We all did this for Kyle tonight,” two-time Olympic halfpipe skiing champion David Wise said on Sunday after his X Games victory. “It’s a little bit of an emotional day for us. We lost a friend.”
Smaine newlywed wife wrote: “I know you had the best runs in your life out there in Japan and could never blame you for doing what you loved,” the young widow added. “I do wish I could tell you that one secret I always had, that I loved you. It never really was a secret because I said it at least 10 times a day to you. I can’t wait to see you again.”
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