Professional rally car driver and DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident on Monday in Utah. He was 55.
Utah's Wasatch County Sheriff's Office confirmed Block's death in a Facebook post, saying that the accident occurred around 2 p.m. on Monday. Block was riding a snowmobile with a group of people, but police said that he was "alone" when the accident took place.
"The driver, Kenneth Block, 55-year-old male out of Park City, Utah, was riding a snowmobile on a steep slope when the snowmobile upended, landing on top of him," police said. "He was pronounced deceased at the scene from injuries sustained in the accident."
Hoonigan Industries, Block's racing team, also confirmed the news of his death in a statement.
"It's with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today," Hoonigan Industries, Block's racing team, said in a statement on Monday. "Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed."
Leading up to Monday, Block had posted several videos of him surrounded by massive amounts of snows on his Instagram story. He had said that the weather produced "sketchy and snowy" driving conditions.
Block was a fixture in the racing and extreme sports community dating back to the 1990s, when he created Droors Clothing and DC Shoes for skaters and snowboarders. In 2005, Block was named the rookie of the year at the Rally America Championship. During his racing career, he earned five medals at the X-Games, including a silver medal in 2013.
He also had a large following on his YouTube channel -- nearly 2 million subscribers and over 206 million views -- which featured clips of his Gymkhana video series. The videos frequently showed Block driving on dangerous race tracks.
