Kiwi snowboarder dies in Alps cliff jump

DOING WHAT HE LOVED: Palmerston North man Michael McKelvey, who died snowboarding in Germany.

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A Kiwi has been killed in a snowboarding accident in Germany after a jump off a cliff went "horribly" wrong.

Palmerston North man Michael McKelvey, 38, is understood to have died after losing control during a jump and landing heavily, facedown, in deep powder, friends say.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed the death to The Dominion Post yesterday. It has offered help to his family here and also through the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin.

The accident is believed to have happened on Tuesday on the Fellhorn Mountain in the Allgau Alps near Oberstdorf, Germany, on the border with Austria.

Mr McKelvey, a former Freyberg High School and Awatapu College pupil, lived in Germany since 2002, leaving New Zealand for "fun and adventure".

Craig McLay, 38, who has been friends with Mr McKelvey for about 18 years, could not believe his "buddy" had died.

"He's one of those dudes who you would think you would be sitting with on the front porch at age 65 having a few beers and talking about ... (what) you got up to. This isn't the way it was supposed to be," he said from Palmerston North.

Mr McKelvey, who also loved art and music, was at his happiest when he was on a mountain.

"He just loved snowboarding, and he was really good at it, too. If he could, he would have snowboarded all day, every day. He worked in bars in Germany at night just so he could snowboard during the day."

Friends got together in Palmerston North on Wednesday night to have a few beers and swap stories about the man known as "The Beast".

Mr McKelvey was last in New Zealand about 18 months ago, making the most of the long summer days. He also helped out at a family fruit and vegetable store in Levin.

- © Fairfax NZ News