As of: February 20, 2024, 7:18 a.m
By: Johannes Skiba
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Telemark skier Catherine “Kasha” Rigby was hit by an avalanche while skiing in Kosovo and collided with a tree.
She died in the process.
Brezovica – 54-year-old extreme skier Catherine “Kasha” Rigby has died at a ski resort in Kosovo.
The American was swept away by an avalanche.
Her fiancé Magnus Wolfe Murray confirmed this to the
AP
news agency .
Rigby died Tuesday, February 13th.
The ski couple wanted to get married in September.
Despite attempted resuscitation, Rigby dies at the scene of the accident
As
Ski Magazine
writes, it was a comparatively small avalanche, but it pushed Catherine Rigby against a tree at great speed on a steep slope.
She suffered severe chest trauma.
The impact caused internal bleeding and damage to her organs, particularly her lungs.
Her partner Murray, who was also on the ski slope, reached his fiancée just 20 seconds after the collision and initiated resuscitation measures, which were unsuccessful.
Rigby died just seconds after the impact.
The weather conditions were said to have been difficult.
Catherine “Kasha” Rigby was only 54 years old.
© Imago/Rich
Rigby revolutionized telemarking with her style
Catherine Rigby was an expert at telemarking.
In extreme skiing, only the tips of the ski boots are fixed by a binding.
Originally, the driving style of this sport was characterized by elegance.
The American changed the sport with her risky and fast driving style.
Rigby was a speed freak.
“I love driving fast – very fast,” she once said.
“Kasha” grew up in a ski village and, according to his own statements, was on the ski slopes up to 200 times a year in the 1990s.
She explored the world and skied in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Russia, Iceland and Uganda, among other places.
In 1996, Rigby was described in
Outside Magazine
as a “pioneer of extreme telemarking,” and two years later even as “the best female telemarker in the universe.” Many companions mourn Rigby.
The beginning of February marked the first anniversary of the death of former skier Elena Fanchini.
(jsk)
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