Eliot Dänzer was one of two people killed in an avalanche on the Eiger on Saturday, May 17. Photo: Freeride World Tour
An avalanche on Switzerland’s Eiger buried seven people on Saturday, May 17, killing two of the victims, according to Swiss authorities. They’ve reported that one of those fatalities was 23-year-old professional snowboarder and Swiss native Eliot Dänzer, who was a rising start on the Freeride World Tour’s (FWT) Challenger Series. The other fatality was a 21-year-old Swiss national whom authorities had not named as of Tuesday afternoon.
The five other skiers caught in the slide Saturday suffered a range of injuries and were flown to an area hospital. It was first reported that at least one of the two people who had been killed in the slide died on the scene, the other was resuscitated on site and then later died of their injuries at the hospital.
Dänzer was ranked third on the FWT Challenger Series and on the verge of qualifying for the FWT Pro Circuit. He placed second at the 2025 Bonneval Waters Evolution 2 la Rosière Challenger in January and then won the 2025 X Over Ride Kitzsteinhorn Challenger in March before ultimately falling just one spot shy of qualification.
“Eliot was more than just an athlete — he was a true inspiration, a passionate rider, and above all, a kind and generous soul with a bright future ahead of him,” Dänzer’s sponsors at Picture wrote following the news. “He embodied everything we stand for: love for the mountains, respect for nature, freedom through riding, and the joy of sharing these values with others.”
Organizers of the Nendaz Freeride event, a competition in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps, established a white book online to pay tribute to Eliot, asking the freeride community to contribute pictures and memories of Eliot that they’ll eventually pass on to his family.
“This document is not a farewell, but a trace,” they wrote. “The one Eliot left in our lives, on the snow, in our hearts. A book to say what words can barely contain.”
