United States freestyle skier Kyle Smaine had died after being caught in an avalanche.
The 31-year-old athlete was skiing in Nagano Prefecture, in the center of Japan’s Honshu island, when he was killed after the avalanche unfolded, his father William Smaine confirmed to NBC News on Jan. 29.
At least five men, all foreign nationals from the U.S. and Austria, had been caught in the avalanche, a Nagano police spokesperson said, according to Reuters. Three of the skiers were able to climb down the mountain on their own following the avalanche. Unfortunately, Kyle and another skier, who has yet to be identified, were found with no vital signs.
Just hours before the incident, Kyle shared a video of himself skiing while listening to Lizzo‘s “Good as Hell.”
“This is what brings me back to Japan each winter,” he wrote Jan. 29. “Unbelievable snow quality, non-stop storms, and really fun terrain that seems to get better than more exploring you do.”
