Olympic Snowboarding Medalist Killed in Avalanche 

Ueli Kestenholz, who won a bronze medal in the first snowboarding event in Olympic history while representing Switzerland at the 1998 Winter Olympics, died over the weekend after being caught in an avalanche in the Valais Alps. He was 50.

According to reports, Kestenholz was traveling with a friend, who was skiing, in the Lötschental Valley when tragedy struck Sunday afternoon. The duo were caught in an unexpected avalanche.

“The skier was able to get himself to safety,” Valais Cantonal Police said in a news release, via PEOPLE.