Balet was speeding down a slope on her snowboard when the avalanche started and carried her away, police added.
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Estelle Balet died during a film shoot near the southwest border with Italy and France, according to a statement from local police.
The authorities did note she was wearing safety gear and a helmet at the time.
Balet recently won the Freeride World Tour. “2207520000.1461075444./990451497699175/?type=3&theater” target=”_blank”>Facebook and Instagram.
“Estelle Balet was a naturally gifted shining star and demonstrated remarkable talent. bringing home her second title as World Champion just a few weeks ago in Verbier”, said the Freeride World Tour in a statement.
Balet was snowboarding as part of watchmaker Swatch’s professional team.
Rescuers were quick to arrive on the scene and free Balet from the avalanche but they were unable to revive her.
Balet was swept away by an avalanche in the Orsieres area of the Valais. “It reminds us that even when you are well accompanied, freeriding in the mountains has a degree of uncertainty”.
Last year, the 21-year-old became the youngest champion of the Freeride World Tour, in which skiers and snowboarders compete by riding down steep, often rocky ungroomed slopes. An investigation into the cause has been launched. “It eschews jumps, rails, half-pipes and other features of traditional competitive skiing, and it is generally considered more unsafe”, Sewell Chan of the New York Times writes.
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Balet came from the Valais region of Switzerland and had been snowboarding since the age of 10.
