A freerider has died in an accident. © Instagram

Swept away by avalanche with husband: Mourning for ski star

A tragic accident in South America has caused great dismay in the skiing world.

02 October 2026

From: det

It should have been a dream winter vacation, the kind that renowned French freerider Juliette Willmann and her husband Pierre-Idris Mehdi had experienced so many times before: deep snow-covered mountains, free skiing, perfect weather. But the trip to Argentina ended in tragedy: Willmann was killed in an avalanche. She was only 29 years old.

Together with her husband, the professional freerider was caught in an avalanche while skiing in the Lago del Desierto area and carried approximately 400 meters down the slope. Although mountain rescue teams reacted immediately and rushed to their aid, it was already too late for Juliette Willmann: she could only be recovered dead from the snow. Her husband survived the accident and, according to local media reports, is out of danger.

Once a skier, then a freerider

The grief over Juliette Willmann's death is immense, even in the skiing world. The Frenchwoman was a well-known athlete in the freeride scene, skiing off-piste and in open terrain. She participated in the Freeride World Tour, the freeride equivalent of the World Cup, from 2019 to 2022. As a teenager, she competed in alpine skiing, specializing in slalom and giant slalom, before switching to freeriding at the age of 19.

Check out this post on Instagram

A post shared by Juliette Willmann (@juliette_willmann)

Particularly tragic: Just a few days before the accident, Willmann and her husband had posted pictures of their dream vacation in Patagonia. "We feel so lucky to be here in the mountains of Patagonia and to explore this fantastic place," Willmann wrote in her last post.