Two young U.S. Ski Team development racers were killed Monday by an avalanche near the team’s European training base in Soelden, Austria.
Ronnie Berlack, a 20-year-old from Bode Miller’s hometown of Franconia, N.H., and Bryce Astle, a 19-year-old from of Sandy, Utah, were free skiing with four teammates when they were caught in the slide. The others skied out safely.
“Ronnie and Bryce were both outstanding ski racers who were passionate about their sport — both on the race course and skiing the mountain,” said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association chief executive Tiger Shaw. “Our hearts go out to the Berlack and Astle families, as well as to their extended sport family. Both of them loved what they did and conveyed that to those around them.”
Monday’s avalanche warning bulletin for Austria’s Tirol region warned of unsafe conditions on ungroomed slopes.
“The avalanche situation in Tirol’s backcountry touring regions is treacherous,” the report read. “The danger level is considerable over wide ranging areas. The major peril stems from freshly formed snowdrift accumulations which are prone to triggering and can release even by minimum additional loading, i.e. the weight of one sole skier. Avalanche prone locations are found on steep slopes in all aspects.”
Both raced primarily in North America this season.
“An avalanche took their lives today,” . “It is a
tragic loss. My prayers go out to them and their families.”
Berlack grew up racing in New Hampshire and had been an athlete at Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy, where EagleVail’s Mikaela Shiffrin went to high school. He was named to the U.S. development team in the spring of 2013 after finishing 11th in downhill and 17th in super-G at the U.S. alpine championships.
Astle came up through the Snowbird (Utah) ski team and was invited to train with the development team trip this season. He was finished 13th in giant slalom at the U.S. championships last spring, where he was the top junior.
Soelden has served as the ski team’s official European training base since 2011, located about an hour’s drive from Innsbruck in the heart of the Alps, with convenient travel to many World Cup stops. The World Cup season has begun there the past 17 seasons with men’s and women’s World Cup giant slalom races on a high glacier.
