'The Independent' reports that United States champion freestyle skier Kyle Smaine has died in an avalanche in Japan.<br />Previously, Smaine had written on Instagram that he had traveled to Japan to take advantage of "unbelievable snow quality."<br />"This is what brings me back to Japan each winter." Kyle Smaine, via Instagram<br />Smaine had added that Japan had , “really fun terrain that seems to get better [the] more exploring you do”.<br />In 2015, Smaine won gold in the halfpipe at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships.<br />On January 29, Smaine was in Nagano Prefecture on Honshu Island when the avalanche occurred.<br />According to Nagano police, as many as five people from the U.S. and Austria were caught in the avalanche, which occurred on the eastern side of Mount Hakuba Norikura.<br />Authorities said that of the five men skiing on the mountain, three were able to climb down on their own, while Smaine and another unnamed skier were not.<br />Reuters reported that both men were found without vital signs.<br />Weather officials had issued an avalanche warning following days of heavy snowfall and record-breaking low temperatures.
