What a tragedy! The whole country is mourning the passing of Catherine “Kasha” Rigby, the backcountry skiing legend from Utah, who met a fateful end in an avalanche near Kosovo’s only ski resort, Brezovica.
Kasha, a vibrant 54-year-old originally from Vermont but now an official Utah gal, was working on a globe-trotting project called Tour de Piste, which involved backcountry skiing at ski resorts worldwide. Talk about living the dream… until it turned into a nightmare.
It gets even more heartbreaking when considering her connection with another lost legend, Hilaree Nelson. The duo often tore up the slopes together, tragically bonded by their love for skiing and their premature demises. Nelson was taken from us in 2022 while skiing down Manaslu, another harsh reminder of nature’s unpredictable fury. In 2010, they, along with Margaret Wheeler and Alison Gannett, completed the first ski descent of the Northwest Face of Hanuman Tibba in the Indian Himalayas. Scaling 5,982 meters and mastering a 2,500-meter couloir—now that’s a legacy!
Eagle’s Nest in Kosovo turned out to be Kasha’s final battleground. Swept into the trees by an avalanche, her life was cut short upon impact, according to The Daily Mail. Her fiancé, Magnus Wolfe Murray, an absolute hero in his own right, tried to revive her but fate had other plans. The painful news first hit the public through Euronews.albania.
Rigby’s name first made waves in the ’90s when she became one of the U.S.’s pioneering telemark skiers. Her fast, aggressive approach turned her into what Outside magazine poetically described as “the best telemark skier in the known universe.” She wasn’t just content with skiing the Rockies or Alaska. No, she aimed higher—literally.
From the Andes to Kamchatka and the Himalayas, Kasha skied down 5,000- and 6,000-meter peaks. She was even the first person to ski down Cho Oyu on telemark skis. Quite the resume, isn’t it? If you’re wondering whether her breathtaking descents were captured on film, rest easy; Kasha starred in nine skiing movies. Nine!
To bring this full circle, Hilaree Nelson once again enters this bittersweet picture. She and Kasha were practically soul-sisters on skis, pushing each other to conquer new heights. Their 2010 descent of Hanuman Tibba stands as a testament to their incredible drive, skill, and fearlessness.
Catherine “Kasha” Rigby lived a life of boundless adventure and has now left us with a void as vast as the mountains she loved. While we mourn her passing, her indomitable spirit will continue to inspire adventurers for generations to come.
