Wife of B.C. snowboarder who died in avalanche dug him out, tried to revive him

Jeff Keanan was a well-known member of the Whistler snowboarding community and the father of a little boy. He died in Monday's avalanche in the Kootenays.

Forty-four-year-old Jeff Keenan was a professional snowboarder who turned his focus to the business side of the sport, founding a snowboard brand in Whistler and working behind the camera as a videographer.

He was on location near Kaslo in southeastern B.C. for a project with his wife Leanne Pelosi, who is also a professional snowboarder and filmmaker, when he was buried in an avalanche Monday afternoon. It was Pelosi who found her husband and dug him out of the snow.

“What a gift to see you one last time. I tried my hardest to revive you. It’s unbelievably hard to survive right now. Clinging to all memories of you,” she wrote in a tribute on Instagram.

The couple’s friend, snowboard photographer Chad Chomlack, said his heart is with Leanne, who’s been through an unimaginable trauma.

“It’s been definitely an emotional 24 hours to think of what she has to walk into and the new reality that has been given to her. And being there to be able to see him for one last time at some level – I just can’t fathom what’s going on in in her world,” said Chomlack.

The couple share a two-year-old son named Khyber.

“I’m so blown away by our community that is surrounding Khyber and Leanne at this point. It speaks volumes to the level and depth of intimacy that both Jeff and Leanne have cultivated in their relationships, as well as the strength and tenacity and resilience of our mountain community,” said Chomlack.

Keenan’s loss is big blow to the Whistler snowboarding community. But for Chomlack, the loss of a close friend is even harder.

“One of the first things that stands out for me with Jeff is his kindness. And his ability to make you feel incredibly welcomed and incredibly seen and a sense of belonging when you’re around him,” he said.

“Every time he was in a room, there was a sense of lightness and connection and safety.”

Two other men who died in the avalanche were 53-year-old Jason Remple from Kaslo, who owned Stellar Heli Skiing, and Alex Pashley, a 45-year-old snowboarder and photographer from Idaho.

Chomlack also knew Pashley and said he had a lot in common with Keenan.

“Another pillar in our community, someone that fostered a really deep commitment and love for the people within this community and and followed it up, as Jeff did too, with their actions,” he said.

“The loss will be felt very deeply.”