Friend devastated by Burke death

The news of Sarah Burke's death hit close to home for Kevin Hole.

Hole, a friend of Burke's from Squamish, B.C., was devastated by the tragic passing of the Canadian skier on Thursday.

"You don't anticipate things happening like that," Hole told CityNews in a phone interview. "But sometimes they do. It's shocking."

"She was one of our hometown heroes, along with the other Olympians," Hole said. "When the news broke that it (her accident) happened it was like everyone held their breath in this town. We were just all kind of hoping because she's very strong willed, and we were hoping for the best."

Hole added that he is extremely proud of everything Burke accomplished in her career.

"She inspired a lot of women in the ski world," Hole explained. "She was really the best of the best…She was the perfect spokesperson for the sport."

Burke died nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah.