Ueli Kestenholz, who won snowboarding's first Olympic medal in 1998, dies in Swiss avalanche

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

Kestenholz was snowboarding Sunday in the Lötschental valley of Valais when he was swept away and buried in the avalanche, the Swiss ski federation said Tuesday.

He was with a friend who was skiing in the valley when the avalanche started at an altitude of 7,900 feet (2,400 meters), Valais police said in a statement. Officials said it remained unclear what triggered the avalanche.