Canadian Skier Kai Smart Dies from Japan Avalanche

Kai Smart, a 23-year-old skier and filmmaker from Whistler, Canada, died on March 23, 2026, from injuries sustained in an avalanche in Japan earlier that month, his family announced the following day.

Smart, who had recently graduated with honors from the University of British Columbia in May 2025, was buried under snow during a skiing trip in Japan. The incident left him in a coma due to severe oxygen deprivation. His family arranged for him to be transported via medical air ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital on March 19, where medical staff determined the brain damage was irreversible. "The severe lack of oxygen he endured during the avalanche had destroyed any chance of recovery," his father, John Smart, wrote in an Instagram post announcing the death.

John Smart, a 61-year-old former Canadian Olympic freestyle skier who competed in moguls at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, described his son as a multifaceted adventurer. "Kai was a warrior, a mountain man, an explorer of the world, a lover of people of all walks of life, an inspiration to so many, an honour student, a passionate skier, surfer, dirt biker, climber, kitesurfer and so much more," he said. "He lived life...