Two brothers who ran one of central Pennsylvania’s best-known construction and real estate companies together were killed in an avalanche while heliskiing in British Columbia, Canada, according to their family.
Jonathan and Timothy Kinsley were buried alive by snow mountains on Monday afternoon during a guided heli-skiing excursion near the mountain town of Revelstoke.
Helicopter skiing is a type of backcountry skiing that uses a helicopter to reach remote areas with more pristine snow.
The Kinsley brothers’ guide, who works for ski touring company Canadian Mountain Holidays, was partially buried in the avalanche that fell in an area known as the “Chocolate Bunnies,” Canadian broadcaster CBC.ca reported.
The company said the Kinsleys were dug out of the snow and flown to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The leadership was in a stable condition.
“It is impossible to put into words the grief we feel and the sadness shared by our guests, their families and all of our employees,” Canadian Mountain Holidays President Rob Rohn said in a written statement fatal incident.
Jonathan Kinsley, 59, and Timothy Kinsley, 57, were buried alive by an avalanche in British Columbia. Kinsley Construction/Facebook
Jonathan Kinsley, 59, was a senior executive at York-based Kinsley Enterprises, the parent company of Kinsley Construction and Kinsley Properties.
Timothy Kinsley, 57, was the President of Kinsley Properties, which specializes in real estate development.
“Our entire Kinsley family is still processing this heartbreaking news of her death and respectfully requests privacy at this time,” the family said in a statement Tuesday.
Helicopter skiing is a type of backcountry skiing that uses a helicopter to access remote snow areas
The brothers’ late father, Robert Kinsley, founded the family’s construction empire in 1963. The patriarch died in 2020 at the age of 79.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf described the Kinsley family as a “pillar” of York County and praised the two late brothers for their philanthropic efforts, York Dispatch reported.
“Tim and Jon have given generously to many causes to improve the community,” the Democrat said.