Quick Facts
Biography
Catherine "Kasha" Rigby (born 1970) is a competitive skier who calls Utah home. She is most noted for her many achievements and first descents as "the pioneer of extreme telemark skiing."
Early life
Kasha has skied since she could walk and began telemark skiing as a teenager. Her passion for skiing and traveling has been the driving force behind most of her adult life. She began traveling at age 19, leaving college to explore Africa. She then headed to Colorado, where she became involved in telemark racing and extreme-skiing competitions.
Kasha joined The North Face Ski Team in 1995 and has since brought her skis all over the U.S., Canada, South America, New Zealand, Russia, Asia, Europe, India and even the Middle East, skiing first descents of some of the world's most revered peaks, including the Five Holy Peaks in Mongolia.
Outside magazine credited her as being: "the best female telemark skier in the known universe", when she appeared on the cover of Women Outside in Fall 1998
Career highlights
- Climb and ski descent of Choy Oyu 26,907 ft (8201m) (credited as the first telemark descent)
- Mongolia Women's Ski Expedition: first ski descents of the Five Holy Peaks in Tavan Bogd (including Kuitan, the highest peak in Mongolia)
- Mt. Waddington Ski Expedition: descent of Mt. Waddington and Combatant Couloir, British Columbia
- Yukon Territories to Dry Bay, Alaska, ski exploration, accessed from the Tatshenshini River
- Hannuman Tibba Women’s Expedition: first ski descent of RFHP, a 2500m couloir in the Himachal Pradesh region of India
- Kamchatka Women's Ski Expedition: First ski descent of Mt. Udina & Mt. Zimina, as well as the first female ski descent of Mt. Tolbachik (all telemarked)
- Lebanon Ski Expedition: ski descent of Qornet as-Sawda, 3090m, traverse of the Mt. Lebanon Range
- Mt. Belukha: ski exploration and descent of the highest peaks in Siberia (photos)
- Cotopaxi (5897m) and Chimborazo (6310m) Volcanoes of Ecuador: ski descent of world’s highest active volcano
- Multiple First Descents along Gibb's Fjord, Baffin Island
- Ski and kite Greenland
- 21 peaks in 21 days Bolivia
- Trek of Frozen Zanskar River – Ladahk, India
- The North Face - Cho Oyu, Tibet
- The Power of Two | Outside Online
- Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. - Bios
- Biglines.Com | Cho Oyu Blog Update
- The North Face - All-Women Mongolia Expedition
- Mark Synnott :: Expeditions : Mt. Waddington
- The North Face - Mt. Waddington Expedition
- Paddler magazine online : Skiers Use Rafts to Access Tat Descents
- The North Face - A Woman's Ski Descent of Hanuman Tiba
- Alison Gannett
- Skiing magazine, February 2002
- The North Face - Kamchatka Expedition 2000
- SKIING Magazine, Feb 2004
- Off-Piste Magazine, Iss. XVII, March 2003
- Muscle & Fitness France - FEMMES DE L'EXTRÊME
- Ski Lebanon Adventure by Sarah Ferguson
- British Geographical Magazine, Feb 2000
- The North Face - Athlete to Athlete Interview - Kasha Rigby
- MountainZone.com | Altai Ski and Snowboard Post Expedition Gallery
- Stellar: Lifestyle by Adventure - Feature: Pregnant with Snow
- The North Face - Baffin Island Kite and Ski Expedition
- [web.archive.org/web/20061115131722/http://www.exploreepic.com/expeditions/aug06/baffin.shtml - Outdoor sports Resources and Information. Archive ]
- OFF TO THE ICE: North Face Baffin Island expedition underway
- South Pole, North Pole News and Guide
- http://mountaingazette.com/index2.php?date=2006-01-01
- NANUK! - Never underestimate the powers of an Inuit man and his snowmobile
- Figenshau and Griber Kite Couliors in Greenland
- A1 - Asia
- Skiing magazine, November 2003
- The North Face - Ultimate Bolivian Peak Bagger
- The North Face - Zanskar - Chadar Ice Trek
Films/Videos
- 1997 Scott Gaffney's Breathe
- 1999 Higher on the Mountain
- 2001 Warren Miller's Cold Fusion
- 2001 Transworld Television: Ski Nomads: A Traverse of Lebanon
- 2001 OLN Adventure Series Mystery Mountain
- 2004 Incognito: Total Telemark 4
- 2006 Shelter from the Storm
- 2009 Edge of Never
- 2015 Ultimate Survival Alaska, Season 3