Estelle Balet (19 December 1994 – 19 April 2016) was a Swiss freeride snowboarder and two-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 2015 and 2016 at the

Freeride World Tour The Freeride World Tour (FWT) is an annually toured series of events in which the best freeskiers and snowboard freeriders compete for individual event wins, as well as the overall title of World Champion in their respective genders and discipli ...

. 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 ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. 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 mentor 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, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Chandolin Chandolin is a village in the district of Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais. An independent municipality before, it merged on 1 January 2009 with neighboring Ayer, Grimentz, Saint Jean, Saint-Luc and Vissoie to form the municipality of Anniv ...

and

Nendaz Nendaz is a municipality in the district of Conthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Nendaz is first mentioned in 984 as ''Nenda''. It was also known under its German name ''Neind'' though that name is no longer used. Geograph ...

, as well as the European Freeride World qualifier. She entered the

at the age of eighteen and three weeks, as the youngest athlete ever on this level. Balet specialized particularly in switch,

frontside In surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and aggressive inline skating, frontside and backside are terms that are used to describe how a person approaches an obstacle or performs a certain trick. In aggressive inline skating, frontside and backsid ...

180, frontside 360 and

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsails ...

. 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 , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

and

Fieberbrunn Fieberbrunn is a market town in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol in the Kitzbühel (district), Kitzbühel district. It is located at , in the Kitzbühel Alps. Fieberbrunn is the most populous municipality in the Pillerseetal valley. Acco ...

, 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 slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

while snowboarding in

Orsières Orsières is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Orsières is first mentioned in 972 as ''Pons Ursarii''. In medieval times, it was a stage on the ''Via Francigena''. Geography Orsières ...

. She was filming a snowboard segment with her friend Geraldine Fasnacht for her own first film called ''Exploring the Known'' on

Le Portalet Le Portalet is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif, located west of Praz de Fort in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range between the glaciers of Trient and Saleina The Saleina Glacier (french: Glacier de saleina, formerly spelled ''Sale ...

in southwestern

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Despite swift action from emergency services and attendance from

Air Glaciers The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, she died from her injuries.

References

External links

Profile
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balet, Estelle 1994 births 2016 deaths Swiss female snowboarders Sport deaths in Switzerland Deaths in avalanches Sportspeople from Sion, Switzerland