Pro-Boarder Killed by Avalanche Jamil Khan Killed in the Sierras Wednesday Friday, February 13, 1998 Snowboarder Jamil Khan was killed Wednesday in an avalanche on Donner Summit, in the Sierras of California. Khan was boarding with friends who were filming him when he was struck and reportedly buried for over an hour. Khan, 22, was doing what he loved best — riding the pow. As he said in his Burton biography, "I am going to all corners of the earth to seek powder with a videographer." "Through his snowboarding, he touched many people and shared his talents with the world," Burton Snowboards' Amy Barrett said today. In a terrible twist of fate, Khan, of Gloversville, New York, could have easily been at the Winter Olympics, having just missed a spot on the first ever US Olympic Snowboard Team. He placed fifth overall in the qualifiers. "Jamil was one of those great athletes and we deeply regret his death," U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt said. "We would have seen a lot more out of him in the future..." Khan is featured in fall Line Films' Ticket To Ride and has been riding for Burton for several years. Barrett said Burton does not yet have all the details surrounding the accident and has not released a statement. Khan, she said, was spending the winter traveling and riding. "Jamil will be remembered for his spirit and his strong will. He was a good friend to all of us and an amazing athlete," she said. "He will be missed by all of us dearly." Khan was fast becoming a big name in snowboarding. He had a killer '97-'98 season, placing second in the Sugarloaf Grand Prix, 10th in Bachelor and 11th in Mammoth. "We would have seen a lot more out of him in the future," Barrett said. Asked whether Khan would have become a household name in snowboarding, she said, "he was already there." — Sarah Love, Mountain Zone Staff

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