Estelle Balet (19 December 1994 – 19 April 2016) was a Swiss freeride

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

and two-time world champion in 2015 and 2016 at the Freeride World Tour. She died in an avalanche on 19 April 2016, at the age of 21.

Early life

Estelle Balet was born in the village of Vercorin in

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. She started skiing early in her childhood. At the age of ten she transitioned from skiing to snowboarding after a knee injury.

Snowboarding career

At the age of 16, she met her future

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Geraldine Fasnacht who gave her a fascination for free ride. She won the Dakine Junior Tour competing with the seniors. Starting in la Clusaz, she won her first 2* competitions, and obtained a wild card for a 3* competition, achieving 2nd place. On her first year as an active athlete, she won in Hochfuegen (

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

), Chandolin and Nendaz, as well as the European Freeride World qualifier. She entered the Freeride World Tour at the age of eighteen and three weeks, as the youngest athlete ever on this level. Balet specialized particularly in

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

, frontside 180, frontside 360 and jib. In 2014, she got 4 podiums in four competitions and was freeride world vice-champion and was nominated as 2014 Rookie of the year by the Direction of Freeride World Tour. In 2015, after two victories in the World Tour in

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

and Fieberbrunn, Balet became the youngest ever Freeride World Tour champion. She upheld her world title in 2016 after her victories in

and in Verbier Xtreme. She was a part of the Swatch professional team.

Death

On 19 April 2016, three weeks after having conquered her second consecutive freeride world title, Estelle Balet died in an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

while snowboarding in Orsières. She was filming a snowboard segment with her friend Geraldine Fasnacht for her own first film called ''Exploring the Known'' on Le Portalet in southwestern

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Despite swift action from emergency services and attendance from Air Glaciers, she died from her injuries.

References

External links

Profile
at Freeride World Tour * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balet, Estelle 1994 births 2016 deaths Swiss female snowboarders Sport deaths in Switzerland Deaths in avalanches Sportspeople from Sion, Switzerland 21st-century Swiss sportswomen Natural disaster deaths in Switzerland