Hans Saari; Extreme Sports Enthusiast and Journalist

Hans Saari, 30, an extreme skier, mountain climber and journalist who traveled internationally to pursue his sport, died May 8 of head injuries suffered in a skiing accident in the French Alps.

Saari was skiing in the Gervisuiti Couloir in the Chamonix region of France while on assignment for a ski magazine. He was skiing with friends down a deep gorge when he hit a patch of ice, lost control and fell about 2,000 feet, according to a relative who asked not to be identified. Saari died in a hospital in Geneva.

A native of Bozeman, Mont., Saari graduated cum laude from Yale in 1993.

In October 1999, he was part of the climbing team on Shishapangma in Tibet when an avalanche killed America’s preeminent mountaineer, Alex Lowe, and cameraman Dave Bridges.