THUNDER BAY — A Thunder Bay man who was highly respected as a long-time competitive downhill ski racer, instructor, coach and official died in a tragic accident in British Columbia.
Denis Beaupre, 69, was fatally injured on March 10 while skiing at the Revelstoke Mountain Resort.
His best friend, Bill Smith of Thunder Bay, was skiing with him at the time.
"He and I had just come out here. We do a month-long ski trip every year, and we were half-way through the trip when the accident happened," Smith told TBnewswatch in an interview Wednesday.
"It was a freak accident. It happened on a very easy run. A person skied across in front of him and he did a directional change. He went off a little bit of a rise and it dropped about eight or nine feet on a bit of a steep section, and he landed on the flat part down at the bottom. That's when he crashed. It was a bad crash."
Smith said his friend will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
"He was well-loved and respected by literally everybody in the skiing community. He was pretty much my best friend for the last 40 years. I'm gonna miss him."
Revelstoke Mountain Resort isn't commenting publicly about the accident but Smith commended its response to the tragedy.
"Kudos to the resort. The ski patrol system out there, they were just amazing. So professional. I can't give enough superlatives to describe how well they worked."
He said the resort also stepped up with compassionate gestures of support for Beaupre's family who travelled to Revelstoke after the accident.
