If we knew how to turn this whole site black we would. Our brains are struggling to compute the devastating news that the Canadian freeskier Sarah Burke  has died followed injuries sustained nine days ago in a training accident in the superpipe at Park City, Utah. Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this horrendous time. According to espn.com they released a statement earlier saying, “She passed away peacefully surrounded by those she loved. In accordance with Sarah’s wishes, her organs and tissues were donated to save the lives of others.” 

There’ll no doubt be a lot of chat about safety issues surrounding half pipes, especially in the mainstream media and considering this was the pipe in which Kevin Pearce was injured ahead of the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but tonight the focus should surely just be on Sarah and what a phenomenal skiing talent she was. A winner of four X Games Golds and a cert for glory at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, an event at which she’d lobbied so hard for the introduction of skiing in the pipe at. She was a pioneer, an athlete admired by snowboarders as much as skiers, and popular with everyone that knew her. RIP Sarah.

A fund has been set up in her honour and to help her family pay off the hospital bills giveforward.com/sarahburke