- - Olympic Snowboarding Medalist Dies After Being Trapped by Avalanche: ‘His Life Was Far Too Short’

Sean NeumannJanuary 13, 2026 at 11:54 PM

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Ueli Kestenholz -

Former Olympic bronze medalist Ueli Kestenholz has died

Kestenholz, 50, died after being stuck in an avalanche on Sunday in Switzerland

Kestenholz competed in snowboarding for Switzerland at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics

Ueli Kestenholz, a former Olympic bronze medalist who represented Switzerland at the 1998 and 2022 Winter Games, has died.

The Swiss Ski Federation announced Kestenholz’s death Tuesday, Jan. 13 saying the decorated winter athlete died after being trapped in an avalanche in the Lötschental valley on Sunday while snowboarding with a friend.

Kestenholz was 50 years old.

“His life was far too short,” the Swiss Ski Federation said in the news release announcing his death, adding that the “Swiss-Ski and the snowboard community are devastated.”Swiss-Ski President Peter Barandun said the federation “extend[s] our deepest condolences to Ueli's family and loved ones," including Kestenholz’s two children.

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Ueli Kestenholz

Kestenholz competed for Switzerland in the first-ever Olympic snowboarding event in 1998, winning a bronze medal at the Nagano Games in the parallel giant slalom event.

The Swiss Ski Federation said Kestenholz “was also among the pioneers at the Olympic premiere of snowboard cross in Turin in 2006.”

“Ueli didn't just love snowboarding in all its facets,” the federation said. “After retiring from competitive sports in 2006, he remained a professional outdoor athlete — right up to his last breath. He was a freerider, speedrider, paraglider pilot, kitesurfer, skydiver, surfer, wingfoiler, mountain biker — a true crossover athlete.”

Kestenholz first discovered snowboarding when he was 14 years old, going on to become one of Switzerland’s most cherished riders.

“I skateboarded, I was a windsurfer, but I only skied in the winter, and on two planks," Kestenholz said in an interview with Tamedia two years ago, according to the Swiss Ski Federation. "Snowboarding offered the opportunity to experience my favorite feeling, gliding sideways, even in winter."

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Ueli Kestenholz

According to the local Valais Cantonal Police, Kestenholz was swallowed by an unexpected avalanche shortly after noon on Sunday while he and a friend, who was skiing, were out on the eastern slope of the Lötschental valley in Southern Switzerland.

“The skier was able to get himself to safety,” police said in a news release. “As for the snowboarder, he was buried and was freed by his colleague and the Valais Cantonal Rescue Organization (OCVS), with the support of three Air Zermatt helicopters.”Kestenholz was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

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Source: “AOL Sports”