Famed US Skier Dies in Kosovo Avalanche
Katherine “Kasha” Rigby revolutionized big mountain telemark skiing
American skier Katherine “Kasha” Rigby, 54, of Utah has died in an avalanche while skiing not far from a Kosovo ski resort. Rigby was on her Tour de Piste, where she was skiing backcountry areas near ski resorts. Outside magazine once dubbed her “the best telemark skier in the known universe.”
During her descent at an area called Eagle’s Nest, an avalanche buried Rigby and another skier, who also died. In her final Instagram post, Rigby said, “Sideways rain, a big melt, and winds too high to run lifts, doesn’t keep these skiers and sledders off the t-bar and slope. While seeking winter our #tourdepiste continues, running the fringes of resorts. We have had a few chances to poke around up high, but today we were back in the lower country. Still just happy to be in the snow.”
The Vermont-born skier was the first to telemark ski Cho You, the sixth-highest mountain in the world. She joined The North Face team in 1995, becoming teammates and friends with another pioneering skier, Hilaree Nelson, who died on Manaslu in 2022. Rigby made first telemark descents down dozens of peaks around the world, from the Andes and Himalayas to the Rocky Mountains and Alaska.
Rigby was a champion telemark skier who “aimed to redefine telemarking with her high-speed, hard-driving style,” Ski Magazine said. In Backcountry’s report on Rigby’s death, editor Adam Howard said she “embodied compassion and free spiritedness… The whole outdoor and ski world is just gutted to lose such a special soul.”
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
