Snowboarding champion is swept to her death in an avalanche while she films on the slopes in Switzerland 

  • Swiss Estelle Balet, 21, won the Freeride World Tour in 2015 and 2016
  • Was killed in avalanche while filming above Swiss village of Orsieres
  • A slab of snow broke away and swept her down a narrow, rocky slope
  • Police have launched an investigation to determine causes of accident 
By Charlie Moore For Mailonline
Published: 09:22 EST, 19 April 2016 | Updated: 09:35 EST, 19 April 2016
A 21-year-old Swiss snowboarding champion has died in an avalanche after a slab of snow broke away during a film shoot and swept her down a narrow, rocky slope.
Estelle Balet, who won the Freeride World Tour in 2015 and 2016, died in the 1km-long avalanche above the Swiss village of Orsieres despite efforts of emergency crews to save her, police in the canton of Valais said.
Last year, Balet became the youngest champion of the Freeride World Tour, in which skiers and snowboarders compete by riding down steep, often rocky, ungroomed slopes. 
Snowboarding champion Estelle Balet, 21, has died in an avalanche after a slab of snow broke away during a film shoot
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Snowboarding champion Estelle Balet, 21, has died in an avalanche after a slab of snow broke away during a film shoot
Events are sometimes halted due to avalanches, including last February at a competition in Austria.
Police said Balet was the second person to ride down the slope today during filming.
She had been freed from the avalanche by the time emergency crews arrived. 
Local police said: 'Despite immediate efforts to revive her, she died at the scene. An investigation has been started to determine the causes of the accident.'
Balet, who is sponsored by the Swiss watchmaker Swatch, had been wearing a device meant to help locate people in avalanches, as well as a helmet and an airbag designed to increase the chances of surviving a snow slide.
Estelle Balet during the Freeride World Tour in Chamonix in 2016. She won the tour in 2015 and 2016
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Estelle Balet during the Freeride World Tour in Chamonix in 2016. She won the tour in 2015 and 2016
Estelle Balet died in the 1km-long avalanche despite efforts of emergency crews to save her, police in the canton of Valais said
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Last year, Balet became the youngest champion of the Freeride World Tour
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Estelle Balet died in the 1km-long avalanche despite efforts of emergency crews to save her, police in the canton of Valais said
The outline of the avalanche near Portalet over Orsieres in the Alps in which the Swiss champion was killed
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The outline of the avalanche near Portalet over Orsieres in the Alps in which the Swiss champion was killed