Stella Keane, a quintessential Wood River Valley mountain athlete, was killed in an avalanche while skiing on Friday, March 6, the day before her 54th birthday.
She was one of a group of four skiing the west face of Gladiator Ridge 20 miles north of Ketchum, when a large avalanche caught two of the skiers and carried them through trees. One skier was seriously injured and Stella was buried 2 to 3 feet beneath the snow and died before she could be reached.
Her partner Marvin Brown said, "She was doing what she most loved to do, skiing the backcountry, and she wouldn't have had it any other way."
Known as a loving and loyal friend with a fierce determination in all things, Stella lived life full and large and with a style and grace matched only by her kindness, intelligence and beauty. Her friend Diana Fassino wrote that "Stella streaked through the firmament like a meteor, dazzling us with her astounding physical prowess, forever challenging herself to be the best that she could be, always modest in her achievements, often waiting for the rest of us to catch up, which we never could."
She was among the strongest and fastest mountain and road bicycle riders in the Wood River Valley, males included. A year and a half ago, at the age of 52, Stella finished third among all women in the King of the Mountain bike race, which involved riding to the top of Galena Summit twice, once from each side. In 1983 she set the women's world record for speed on skis at 190.375 kph (118.4 mph). She had her sights set on becoming the first woman to ski faster than 120 mph when she was seriously injured the next year while skiing (slowly) for a TV commercial in Mammoth Mountain, which ended her competitive skiing.
A voracious reader, thinker and conversationalist, Stella's intellect, taste and interests kept pace with her devoted commitment to her endless number of friends. She lived in her home in south Ketchum with the love of her life, Marvin Brown, surrounded by her beautiful English country garden.
Born on March 7, 1955, in Nakuru, Kenya, the daughter of Harry Whateley and Anne Tooker, she left Kenya at the age of 8 because of the Mau Mau rebellion and lived in South Africa until the age of 13 when she moved to London, England. She began skiing that same year in Austria. She studied geology at Newcastle University but left England at the age of 18 to work as a naturalist on a geological expedition in Canada and began serious skiing at Whistler, B.C. While in Canada she worked in an asbestos factory and was trained as a demolition expert.
Stella was a member of the Sun Valley Ski School in the early 1980s, and since 1987 she produced Celebrity Sports Invitationals, some of which raised funds for the Make a Wish Foundation, Dream Foundation and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance. These events took Stella to many exotic places, which she loved. Before she died, she was preparing to make her way to Jamaica for another event to benefit the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Stella is survived by her mother, Anne Bennett of England; her brother, Harry Hopworthy of England; her partner, Marvin Brown of Ketchum; and her many, many friends, all of whom know her gentle spirit is with them forever.
There will be a gathering to celebrate Stella's life at Carol's Dollar Mountain Lodge in Sun Valley on Saturday, March 14, from 6-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made in Stella's memory to the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation: attention Don Wiseman, Box 203, Sun Valley, ID 83353.
