Ueli Kestenholz, Olympic bronze medalist, killed in Switzerland avalanche

Ueli Kestenholz, the Swiss snowboarding pioneer who won bronze in snowboarding’s Olympic debut, has died after an avalanche in Switzerland. He was 50 years old.

Kestenholz was snowboarding on Sunday in the Lötschental valley in Valais when he was swept away and buried by the avalanche, the Swiss Ski Federation announced on Tuesday.

He was with a friend who was skiing in the valley when the avalanche was triggered at an altitude of 2,400 meters, Valais police said in a press release. Officials said it was still unclear what exactly triggered the avalanche.

The friend dug up the trapped Kestenholz before a helicopter airlifted them to a hospital, police said.

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Ueli Kestenholz, bronze medalist in snowboarding in Nagano, presents his medal on February 16, 1998 in front of the town hall of his hometown of Thun, Switzerland. (Edi Engeler/Keystone via AP)

Kestenholz helped make Olympic snowboarding history when he was thrust into the spotlight at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, at just 22 years old.

That year’s Games marked the debut of snowboarding as an Olympic event. Kestenholz won the bronze medal for Switzerland in the parallel giant slalom – the first snowboard decision in Olympic history, the Swiss ski federation announced.

Ueli Kestenholz passes a gate during qualifying for the Men’s Dueling Slalom World Championships, International Snowboard Federation, in Val di Sole, Italy, January 28, 1999. (Reuters)

The Swiss rider competed in two more Winter Games, was a two-time snowboardcross champion at the X-Games and continued his professional career in extreme sports.

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The ski federation said Kestenholz should be remembered not only for his love of snowboarding, but also for being “a true crossover athlete.”

“After retiring from competitive sports in 2006, he remained a professional outdoor athlete until his last breath,” the federation said, noting that Kestenholz was a freerider, speed rider, paraglider pilot, kite surfer, skydiver, surfer, wingfoiler and mountain biker.

Ueli Kestenholz is hugged by a teammate after winning the bronze medal in the Olympic debut of snowboard giant slalom in Shiga Kogen, Japan, February 8, 1998. Kestenholz came back from 10th place in the first run to win third position. Canadian Ross Regabliati won gold. (Reuters)

The Olympic medalist’s Instagram account showed numerous photos of the athlete practicing extreme sports outdoors.

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“To enjoy these rare moments when the wonders of nature align, you have to be willing to drop everything and go!” he wrote in a post of a video showing him paragliding and landing on frozen lakes near St. Moritz.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.