Popular snowboarder Marko Grilc has died following an accident in the Austrian ski resort of Solden, just weeks before the birth of his third child.
Tyrol police said a 38-year-old Slovenian man suffered fatal head injuries in a snowboarding accident on Tuesday.
He was part of a filming team exploring the terrain when the athlete, who was not wearing a helmet, fell and hit his head on a snow-covered rock.
Despite efforts to resuscitate him by his team and employees of the resort, the victim died at the scene, the statement concluded.
Two of Grilc’s sponsors – Burton Snowboards and GoPro – confirmed his death on Wednesday.
“With a heavy heart we share that yesterday, our dear friend and Burton team rider Marko ‘Grilo’ Grilc passed away in an accident while snowboarding,” Burton Snowboards tweeted.
“Our heart goes out to his fiancee Nina and their children, family, and friends, who all shared his love and passion for snowboarding.”
A statement from GoPro read: “We are saddened to hear the news of Marko Grilc’s passing.”
“He was a beloved member of the GoPro family and inspired us not only as a professional athlete, but as a father and an amazing human,” the company added.
“He was a legend and will be truly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Grilc is survived by his fiancee Nina and two children, with a third on the way in the coming weeks.
“Ohh man our 3rd baby legend is getting born into a wild ride,” Grlic wrote on October 30.
“Blessed for days like this with my whole gang.”
Born in Ljubljana, Grilc became a prominent name in the freestyle snowboarding scene over the course his lengthy career.
According to the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) website, the Slovenian made his debut competitive appearance at the FIS Junior World Championships in Finland in 2002.
Over the course of an 11-year competitive career, Grilc would record nine podium finishes – victories coming via the Big Air events at the European Cup in Croatia in 2004 and the World Cup in London in 2010.
His final competitive appearance came in the World Cup at Copper Mountain, Colorado in 2013, and Grilc subsequently moved into a variety of filming ventures relating to snowboarding.
The 38-year-old documented many of his trips on his YouTube channel.
His last video ‘Disconnected’ – posted in March this year – showcasing his time snowboarding in the Prokletije mountain range, which borders Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro.
“Snowboarding is so simple, it’s basically just shredding down the mountain on a piece of wood,” Grilc says towards the end of the video.
“Just the stoke that you get from riding, from doing a sick line, and the happiness I saw out here was unreal. I’m sure this crew of people will have stories to tell for years to come.”
