Kasha Rigby, pioneering skier who lived and skied in Utah, dies in Kosovo avalanche
Feb 16, 2024, 8:42 PM | Updated: Feb 17, 2024, 10:24 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Pioneering skier Kasha Rigby, who had lived and skied in Utah, died this week in an avalanche at a Kosovo resort, according to friends and media reports.
Rigby, a pioneer in telemark skiing, was skiing at the Ski Center in Brezovica, Kosovo, on Tuesday when she got caught up in a “small avalanche” that led to a “high-force collision with trees,” Ski Magazine reported. The magazine said she quickly succumbed to her injuries from the accident.
“Her passion for skiing and adventurous spirit touched the lives of many, and we want to ensure that her legacy is remembered with the respect and admiration she deserves,” Eric Henderson, a friend and operator of a Boulder, Colorado, public relations firm, said in a statement.
Rigby, 54, lived for a time in Boulder, Garfield County, in southern Utah.
“She wasn’t sure the rural town of Boulder, Utah, would have enough excitement for her, but soon fell in love with the wide open slick-rock, slot canyons, endless exploring, fresh food and the amazing Hell’s Backbone Restaurant that she worked at for many years,” Outside magazine reported in 1996, as quoted in a remembrance by Powder, a ski publication. “She changed the life of everyone she met in Boulder, and it became her sanctuary.”
Ski Magazine noted Rigby’s innovative and pioneering technique as a skier.
“Despite facing skepticism and prejudice, Rigby aimed to redefine telemarking with her high-speed, hard-driving style,” the magazine said in an article on her death. Outside magazine, the umbrella operation that owns Ski Magazine, called her “the best female telemark skier in the known universe” upon appearing on the cover of Women Outside in a 1998 edition, Ski Magazine reported.
Ace Kvale, of Boulder, a longtime friend, said Rigby was well-known in skiing circles all along the Wasatch Front. “She was a mentor and role model for two generations of skiers, men and women,” he told KSL.com.
Beyond that, Kvale said she had an outgoing, expansive personality. “She was a shining light. She lit up every room she walked into,” he said.
The statement from Henderson said Rigby was descending a 35-degree slope when Tuesday’s deadly avalanche in Kosovo occurred. Her fiance Magnus Wolfe was with her and quickly responded after the avalanche but could not resuscitate her given the gravity of her injuries.
“She always loved paths unknown and she followed many of them throughout the beautiful, winding trajectory of her life. She has touched so many lives and we will all miss her dearly,” Henderson said.
A GoFundMe account* has been created to aid with efforts to return Rigby’s body to the United States. Some of the funds are also to help children she and Wolfe had already started to assist via a therapeutic sports initiative geared to kids in developing nations and other countries recovering from crises.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
