Two brothers who together stood at the helm of one of central Pennsylvania’s most prominent construction and real estate companies were killed in an avalanche in British Columbia, Canada, according to their family.
Jonathan and Timothy Kinsley were buried alive in a mound of snow near the mountain resort town of Revelstoke on Monday afternoon while they were on a guided heli-skiing trip.
Helicopter skiing is a type of backcountry skiing in which a helicopter is used to access remote areas of more pristine snow.
The Kinsley Brothers guides, working for the ski tour company Canadian Mountain Holidays, were partially buried by the avalanche, which fell in an area known as the “Chocolate Bunnies”. Canadian broadcaster CBC.ca reported.
The company said the Kinsley family was pulled out of the snow and airlifted to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The condition of the guide was stable.
Addressing the fatal incident, Rob Rohn, president of Canadian Mountain Holidays, said in a written statement, “It is impossible to put into words the grief we feel and the grief shared by our guests, their families and all of our employees. ”
Jonathan Kinsley, 59, was an executive at York-based Kinsley Enterprises, the parent company of Kinsley Construction and Kinsley Properties.
Timothy Kinsley, 57, was president of Kinsley Properties, which specializes in real estate development.
“Our entire Kinsley family is still processing the heartbreaking news of his death and respectfully ask for privacy,” the family said in a statement on Tuesday.
The brothers’ late father, Robert Kinsley, founded the family’s manufacturing empire in 1963. The Vice Chancellor died in 2020 at the age of 79.
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf described the Kinsley family as “pillars” of York County and praised the two late brothers for their philanthropic efforts. York Dispatch reported,
The Democrat said, “Tim and John generously gave many reasons to improve the community.”
