Kasha Rigby Explained

Kasha Rigby
Birth Name:	Catherine Rigby
Birth Place:	Stowe, Vermont, U.S.
Death Place:	near Brezovica, Kosovo
Occupation:	Competitive skier
Known For:	Extreme telemark skiing
Partner:	Magnus Wolfe Murray

Catherine "Kasha" Rigby (1970 – February 13, 2024) was an American competitive skier from Utah.^[1] She is most noted for her many achievements and first descents as "the pioneer of extreme telemark skiing."^[2]

Biography

Kasha Rigby was born in Stowe, Vermont. She started skiing when she was very young. and began telemark skiing as a teenager. She began traveling at age 19, leaving college to explore Africa. She then headed to Crested Butte, Colorado, where she became involved in telemark racing and extreme-skiing competitions.^[3]

Rigby joined The North Face Ski Team in 1995 and has since skied in America, Canada, South America, New Zealand, Russia, Asia, Europe, India and even the Middle East. She skied first descents of some of the world's tallest/hardest peaks, including the Five Holy Peaks in Mongolia.^[4]

Outside magazine credited her as being: "the best female telemark skier in the known universe", when she appeared on the cover of Women Outside in Fall 1998.^[5]

In her 50s, she became engaged to Magnus Wolfe Murray. On February 13, 2024, she was skiing at the Brezovica ski resort in Kosovo on her "Tour de Piste", when she died in an avalanche. Rigby was 54 years old.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Career highlights

• Climb and ski descent of Cho Oyu 26,907 ft (8201m) (credited as the first telemark descent)^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}
• Mongolia Women's Ski Expedition: first ski descents of the Five Holy Peaks of Tavan Bogd (including Kuitan, the highest peak in Mongolia)^[13]
• Mt. Waddington Ski Expedition: descent of Mt. Waddington and Combatant Couloir, British Columbia^{[14] [15]}
• Yukon Territories to Dry Bay, Alaska, ski exploration, accessed from the Tatshenshini River^[16]
• Hanuman Tibba Women's Expedition: first ski descent of RFHP, a 2500m couloir in the Himachal Pradesh region of India^{[17] [18] [19]}
• Kamchatka Women's Ski Expedition: First ski descent of Mt. Udina & Mt. Zimina, as well as the first female ski descent of Mt. Tolbachik (all telemarked)^{[20] [21] [22] [23]}
• Lebanon Ski Expedition: ski descent of Qornet as-Sawda, 3090m, traverse of the Mt. Lebanon Range^{[24] [25]}
• Mt. Belukha: ski exploration and descent of the highest peaks in Siberia^[26] (photos)^[27]
• Cotopaxi (5897m) and Chimborazo (6310m) volcanoes of Ecuador: ski descent of world's highest active volcano^[28]
• Multiple first descents along Gibb's Fjord, Baffin Island^{[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]}
• Ski and kite Greenland^{[35] [36] [37]}
• 21 peaks in 21 days Bolivia^[38]
• Trek of frozen Zanskar River – Ladakh, India^[39]

Films and videos

• 1997 Scott Gaffney's Breathe
• 1999 Higher on the Mountain ^[40]
• 2001 Warren Miller's Cold Fusion^[41]
• 2001 Transworld Television: Ski Nomads: A Traverse of Lebanon ^[42]
• 2001 OLN Adventure Series Mystery Mountain
• 2004 Incognito: Total Telemark 4 ^[43]
• 2006 Shelter from the Storm^{[44] [45]}
• 2009 Edge of Never ^[46]
• 2015 Ultimate Survival Alaska, Season 3 ^[47]

External links

• Personal Website
• Inside Outside Magazine Interview
• Outside magazine story
• Ultimate Survival Alaska, Season 3

Notes and References

1. http://www.thenorthface.com/na/athletes/athletes-KR.html The North Face – Athletes – Kasha Rigby
2. Web site: Skiing: Give Me Liberty...and a Lot of Monster Air Outside Online . 2010-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100919001057/http://outsideonline.com/outside/magazine/0296/9602disk.html . 2010-09-19 . dead .
3. Dandelion magazine, V.1, N.4
4. http://www.snowquest.com/crew/rigby1.html Meet The Crew
5. Web site: Outside Online Archives Outside Online . 2010-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100919001143/http://outsideonline.com/outside/magazine/wofall98/wof.html . 2010-09-19 . dead .
6. Web site: Hallberg . Tom . Close . Greta . 2024-02-15 . Teleskier, Humanitarian Kasha Rigby Leaves a Legacy of Uplifting Others . 2024-02-15 . Backcountry Magazine . en-US.
7. Web site: Benavides . Angela . 2024-02-15 . Top U.S. Skier Kasha Rigby Dies in Kosovo Avalanche » Explorersweb . 2024-02-15 . Explorersweb.
8. Web site: Shafer . Sierra . 2024-02-14 . New Details Emerge in Avalanche Death of Pioneering Skier Kasha Rigby . 2024-02-15 . SKI . en-US.
9. Web site: The North Face - Cho Oyu, Tibet . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112083315/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2005-chooyu.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
10. Web site: The Power of Two Outside Online . 2010-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100919000233/http://outsideonline.com/outside/culture/200610/power-of-two-1.html . 2010-09-19 . dead .
11. http://www.bdel.com/scene/athletes/kasha_rigby.php Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. - Bios
12. Web site: Biglines.Com Cho Oyu Blog Update . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071008084603/http://www.biglines.com/articles_readmore.php?article=1&read=2480 . 2007-10-08 . dead .
13. Web site: The North Face - All-Women Mongolia Expedition . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011625/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2002-mongolia.html . 2007-09-28 . dead .
14. http://www.marksynnott.com/expeditions/waddington.shtml Mark Synnott :: Expeditions : Mt. Waddington
15. Web site: The North Face - Mt. Waddington Expedition . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112083434/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2001-waddington.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
16. Web site: Paddler magazine online : Skiers Use Rafts to Access Tat Descents . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061016205024/https://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2002_3/article_185.shtml . 2006-10-16 . dead .
17. Web site: The North Face - A Woman's Ski Descent of Hanuman Tiba . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112083405/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2001-hanumantiba.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
18. Web site: Alison Gannett . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070220092158/http://www.alisongannett.com/display.php?id=5 . 2007-02-20 . dead .
19. Skiing magazine, February 2002
20. Web site: The North Face - Kamchatka Expedition 2000 . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112083454/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2000-kamchatka.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
21. SKIING Magazine, Feb 2004
22. Off-Piste Magazine, Iss. XVII, March 2003
23. http://www.muscle-fitness-france.com/348.html Muscle & Fitness France - FEMMES DE L'EXTRÊME
24. Web site: Ski Lebanon Adventure by Sarah Ferguson . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070219010940/http://www.skileb.com/adminc/anm/templates/skileb-article.asp?articleid=35&zoneid=1 . 2007-02-19 . dead .
25. British Geographical Magazine, Feb 2000
26. Web site: The North Face - Athlete to Athlete Interview - Kasha Rigby . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112084324/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/athletes/athletes-KR-interview.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
27. http://classic.mountainzone.com/features/99/altai/post-gallery/photos/photo16.html MountainZone.com | Altai Ski and Snowboard Post Expedition Gallery
28. Web site: Stellar: Lifestyle by Adventure - Feature: Pregnant with Snow . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070222034026/http://www.stellarmag.com/features/skiing_volcano_ecuador_394032 . 2007-02-22 . dead .
29. Web site: The North Face - Baffin Island Kite and Ski Expedition . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061112083401/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2005-baffin.html . 2006-11-12 . dead .
30. web.archive.org/web/20061115131722/http://www.exploreepic.com/expeditions/aug06/baffin.shtml - Outdoor sports Resources and Information. Archive
31. http://www.powdermag.com/features/baffinpreview/ OFF TO THE ICE: North Face Baffin Island expedition underway
32. Web site: South Pole, North Pole News and Guide . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061128130649/http://www.thepoles.com/story/ArcticwrapupSnowstormspoundfemaleteamsMay122005.shtml . 2006-11-28 . dead .
33. Web site: Mountain Gazette . 2007-04-05 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070414170221/http://www.mountaingazette.com/index2.php?date=2006-01-01 . 2007-04-14 .
34. http://www.powdermag.com/features/news/baffin_update1/index.html NANUK! - Never underestimate the powers of an Inuit man and his snowmobile
35. http://www.focusproductions.com/HTML/skier_pages/skier4.htm Figenshau and Griber Kite Couliors in Greenland
36. http://www.a1.tv/totaladventure_highlights.shtml A1 – Asia
37. Skiing magazine, November 2003
38. Web site: The North Face - Ultimate Bolivian Peak Bagger . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011536/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2006-bolivia.html . 2007-09-28 . dead .
39. Web site: The North Face - Zanskar - Chadar Ice Trek . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070329021629/http://www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2007-zanskar.html . 2007-03-29 . dead .
40. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0764646/plotsummary Higher on the Mountain (1999) (V) - Plot summary
41. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283291/ Cold Fusion (2001)
42. Web site: Lebanon . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070619025846/http://www.skiingfromtheinside.com/Lebanon_page_1.html . 2007-06-19 . dead .
43. http://www.telemarktips.com/RevIncogVid.html Telemark Movie Incognito Review
44. Web site: Vail Film Festival . 2007-04-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070602113950/http://www.vailfilmfestival.org/program/sports.shtml . 2007-06-02 . dead .
45. http://tvshows.aol.com/episode/shelter-from-the-storm/north-face-expedition/EP4278630001 Shelter From the Storm North Face Expedition – AOL Television
46. Web site: Edge of Never (film) cast (retrieved 1/16/2011) . 2011-01-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101105040518/http://www.edgeofneverfilm.com/cast/ . 2010-11-05 . dead .
47. https://web.archive.org/web/20150313204734/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/ultimate-survival-alaska/articles/kasha-rigby/ National Geographic