Freeskier Ryan Hawks Dies After Fall At Kirkwood.

ESPN reported that Hawks did a backflip off a large cliff on Kirkwood's Cirque and crashed upon landing. He was treated on the spot by ski patrol, and flown by helicopter to Reno's Renown Health Center, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. He died Tuesday morning.

“Some of the other guys who hit the same air as Hawks, they landed right at the base of the cliff, so in deep snow,” Chris Tatsuno, a fellow competitor and friend who was in tears today, said. “And Hawks came in hot enough to throw a backflip and enough to get it around and land it to his feet. But from the photos I’ve seen, he was easily another 10 feet down from the other guys’ landings. So maybe it was harder snow there.”

R.I.P.

sources:

http://www.powdermag.com/mantle/ryan-hawks-1985-2011/
http://www.onthesnow.com/news/12/a/16603/top-freeskier-ryan-hawks-dies-after-fall-at-kirkwood