Snowboarding icon among dead in B.C. avalanche

They didn't come any bigger than Craig Kelly in the snowboarding world.

The soft-spoken 36-year-old, often described as the Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky of snowboarding, was one of seven people killed Monday in an avalanche on the Durrand Glacier near Revelstoke, B.C.

FROM CBC NEWS:
• Survivor says avalanche was 'fluke of nature'

Kelly was working as a backcountry guide at the time of the avalanche.

"I can't think of a bigger loss to the sport and to all of us personally," Jake Burton, founder of Burton Snowboards, said in a release Tuesday.

"To be world freestyle champion four times and rule the sport the way he did was a huge accomplishment, but to retire from competing and go on to become a backcountry guide says far more about him."

Kelly, who grew up in Mount Vernon, Wash., and lived the last two years in Nelson, B.C., was a legend in the snowboarding scene. The four-time world champion and three-time U.S. Open victor was one of the burgeoning sport's early pioneers.

Kelly was a professional rider for over 15 years who starred in many extreme sport movies and had almost a dozen snowboards designed and named after him.

Along with his backcountry work, Kelly also operated a summer snowboard camp in Whistler, B.C. for over a decade and was part of a program that helped underprivileged kids learn to snowboard.

Kelly also had a love for travel. He once spent 18 months driving from Alaska to Argentina, stopping along the way to catch waves on his surfboard and air on his snowboard.

But perhaps even more importantly, especially in the tight-knit snowboarding community, was Kelly's penchant for riding for the soul -- not just prizes and accolades.

Kelly recently spoke about his love of the backcountry in an interview with MountainZone.com.

"There's just a feeling you get from certain things you do in life that just kind of feel pure and independent of what's actually, physically, going on," said Kelly.

"All of a sudden you have this feeling of clarity. Backcountry snowboarding has really done a lot to boost that feeling in me."

Kelly's death has shaken the snowboarding community.

"Craig Kelly losing his life would provide the same impact as Wayne Gretzky being killed," Stu Bott, domestic program co-ordinator for the Canadian Snowboard Federation, said from Calgary.

Canadian Olympic gold medallist Ross Rebagliati said Kelly was who inspired him to get into the once-renegade sport.

"Snowboarding was his reason for living, basically, and for us, too," Rebagliati said in an interview with Global television.

"For him to go down in an avalanche is something that nobody wants to have that happen. But at the same time he was doing something he loved doing."

Kelly is survived by his daughter, Olivia, and partner, Savina.

with files from Canadian Press