Pioneering Skier Kasha Rigby Dead in Avalanche at 54

The international skiing community is in mourning.

Catherine "Kasha" Rigby, a telemark, big mountain and expedition skier has been killed in an avalanche in a resort in Kosovo, the Associated Press confirmed Feb. 18. She was 54.

Per the outlet, her fiancée Magnis Wolfe Murray said in a Facebook message she died Feb. 13 at the Brezovica mountain resort, while police said, without naming Rigby, that the avalanche hit the athlete as she was skiing out of the tourist lanes and that she did not survive despite Murray's immediate CPR and rescuers' medical assistance.

The Kosovo Mountain Search & Rescue Service said in a Feb. 13 statement on Facebook, written in Albanian, that after receiving a call for help from resort personnel about two skiers who had gotten lost in foggy conditions, they carried out a search of an area dubbed "Eagle's Nest," which is known for its avalanche risks. There, they found one skier, a foreign citizen, who was injured in an avalanche. They said they administered first aid, but the person did not survive.

Rigby, a native of Vermont and resident of Utah, began her skiing career as a teenager. In 1995, she joined The North Face Athlete Team and skied all over the world with them until 2012.

"During those 17 years, she put up many first ski descents, created lasting friendships and encouraged the next generation of explorers," the company said about Rigby in a tribute shared on Instagram following her death. "She is remembered by our team as a pioneer on and off the mountain, with an authenticity and strength that inspired everyone she met. Our thoughts go out to Kasha's family and friends."

In 1998, Rigby appeared on the cover of the inaugural issue of Women Outside magazine, which dubbed her "the best female telemark skier in the known universe." Throughout her career, she completed the first ski descents of several peaks in places like Lebanon and Kamchatka in Russia and also explored and descended peaks in Siberia, Bolivia and Ecuador.

She also brought her talents to the screen, appearing in projects such as the 2001 documentary film Cold Fusion and the National Geographic Channel series Ultimate Survival Alaska in 2015.

Following the athlete's death, her good friend and fellow skier Mary McIntyre wrote an obituary for her, published by SKI magazine. "Rigby had a palpable spark, an inner fire," she wrote. "She was light-hearted yet driven and always on the move: let's go here, let's do this, let's put sparkles on our cheekbones and do one more run. She was fun. She was the party. She was always ready to dance. She glowed from within with her love for the world and the people around her."

McIntyre said in recent years, Rigby had concentrated less on skiing and more on humanitarian work, such as helping with earthquake relief efforts in Kathmandu and Turkey. She and Murray, her friend said, had been spending time skiing in Kosovo as they waited for her work visa to come through.

"They had planned to marry at a castle in Scotland this coming September, and all who knew her were looking forward to celebrating with the party of a lifetime," McIntyre wrote. "She always loved unknown paths, and she followed many of them throughout her life's beautiful, winding trajectory. She has touched so many lives, and we will all miss her dearly."

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