- Skier Rigby dies in avalanche
- Fiancé mourns planned wedding
- Rigby acclaimed telemark skier
She was snowshoeing in the avalanche-prone “Eagle’s Nest” region when a pine tree struck her, and she tragically lost her life, despite Mr. Murray administering prompt CPR and receiving subsequent medical intervention.
According to her fiancée, renowned American skier Catherine ‘Kasha’ Rigby perished in an avalanche in Kosovo.
Rigby, 54, also known as Kasha, passed away at the Brezovica mountain resort in Kosovo on Tuesday, according to a Facebook message from Magnus Wolfe Murray.
On Saturday, Mr. Murray stated, “Our wedding was scheduled for September. I am currently bereaved and devastated.”
The resort’s official Instagram account published an image of rescuers pulling a stretcher from a snowy slope near a foil blanket, with the caption, “The ski centre rescue team heroically extracted the victim from a perilous section of the hill, where she sadly perished, despite the fact that they themselves were in imminent danger.”
It was not specified whether it was Ms. Rigby.
Rigby had appeared in a number of films and on an American reality television programme. She had also achieved first descents of some of the world’s most renowned peaks while telemark, big mountain, and expedition skiing.
According to the police, she, as one of the world’s most accomplished female telemark skiers, was exiting the tourist routes when an avalanche struck her.
She succumbed to her injuries despite the prompt CPR administered by Mr. Murray and subsequent medical intervention.
After reaching the top of the run, a small avalanche in the “Eagle’s Nest” section, known for its avalanches, swept Rigby into a pine tree.
She was in Brezovica, 50 miles south of the Kosovan capital Pristina, with the Tour de Piste, an organisation comprised of professional skiers tasked with traversing uncharted ski routes in popular destinations.
In her final Instagram post on Monday, she stated they were anticipating “sideways rain, a large melt, and winds too strong to operate lifts.”
She was lauded in her memorial with the epithets “sweet sister,” “a shining light,” and “inspiring.”
Rigby’s Life and Skiing Legacy
The US State Department confirmed her passing without disclosing additional information or providing her name, citing “respect for the family during this difficult time.”
Having been born in 1970 in Stowe, Vermont, she developed an interest in telemark skiing during her childhood.
Telemark skiing combines Alpine and Nordic skiing, in which the skier flexes their knees at each turn. A hinged cable connects the heel to the front of the binding.
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In addition to competing in telemark racing and extreme skiing competitions in the United States, Canada, South America, New Zealand, Russia, Asia, and Europe, she participated in events across the Middle East.
One of only three American women to have scaled an 8,000-meter-tall (26,200-foot) Himalayan peak, she has also traversed the highest point in Siberia, Kyrgyzstan, China, and the Mongolian Five Holy Peaks.
Her most recent film appearance was in 2009’s Edge Of Never, and she competed with her team to a second-place finish on the third season of Ultimate Survival Alaska six years later.
