Estelle Balet

Estelle Balet, born on 19 December 1994 in the village of Vercorin in Valais, was a Swiss freeride snowboarder who won the Freeride World Tour in 2015 and 2016. She moved from skiing to snowboarding at ten after a knee injury, was mentored by Geraldine Fasnacht, and entered the Freeride World Tour at eighteen as its youngest athlete. She was world vice-champion in 2014 and was nominated rookie of the year, became the youngest champion in 2015 after wins in Andorra and Fieberbrunn, and defended the title in 2016 with wins in Andorra and Verbier Xtreme. She died in an avalanche at Orsières on 19 April 2016, at the age of 21, while filming a snowboard segment with Fasnacht.