U.S. Ski Team Prospects Die In Tragic Accident

Two young Olympic hopeful skiers are dead today after an avalanche in Austria. 20-year-old Ronnie Berlack and 19-year-old Bryce Astle were caught in the snow and unable to ski out.

USA Today spoke with U.S. men's ski team head coach Sasha Rearick who said,

It's our worst nightmare come true. We've never had a death of one of our athletes from an avalanche.

Unfortunately, there were no coaches with them at that time. There was a call, and people tried to dig them out."

There were four other skiers with them who did manage to ski out of the avalanche, but Berlack of Franconia, New Hampshire and Astle of Sandy, Utah did not.

Berlack had been named to the U.S. "D" Team this winter and Astle had just been invited to train with the development team.

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Tiger Shaw spoke about the sport's loss saying,

Our hearts go out to the Berlack and Astle families, as well as to their extended sport family. Both of them loved what they did and conveyed that to those around them."

The group had been skiing beyond trail markers,which is always dangerous, but this is definitely a tragic accident. Sad news for such promising athletes.