Ken Block is dead at age 55.

Ken Block passed away Jan 2, 2023 after a fatal snowmobile accident. 
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42381071/ken-block-dies/

younger than me

A youtube series/video recap of his 2022 ARA Season:

"Go Fast, Risk Everything." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2-OMgQmRow

Some comments from redditor: LaheyOnTheLiquor

"I was out riding with him yesterday when it happened.

There’s a few details I can’t speak of yet, but Ken was an incredible friend and an amazing guy all around. It was an absolutely tragic loss that still doesn’t feel real, but hurts viscerally.

Please, be safe out there. Don’t go zone hunting by yourself. Make sure your buddies know where you are, and you have a way to find them and that they have a way to find you if anyone stops responding on the radio. Make sure people know where you’re riding and when you expect to be back.

This sport is dangerous. Do not try to save a few hundred bucks by not having the right safety equipment. Every single time you ride you need to have a shovel, probe, beacon, and avybag system. This will be a hard year for deaths in the community from snowpack conditions. Don’t contribute to the death tally."

 A good comment further down about equipment:

No details have come out, so it's hard to say exactly what happened, but it's likely two main scenarios: asphyxiation and/or trauma. Either he just got trapped under his machine and it smothered him until he couldn't breathe, or impact trauma (broken bones, broken neck, etc).

If this was blunt trauma, it's hard to say what would mitigate the risk. I personally ride with a padded vest style avy bag for this reason, so I'll have some protection from chest impacts. For the smothering scenarios, this is why it's so important to carry a radio. You need to be able to call for help, and a good radio would work even trapped under the sled. Last winter my wife had a similar situation happen. Was very late at night, she was sucked off into a ditch line where she was tossed upside down with the sled on top of her with her in the water. We use Sena helmet comms, so I could hear it all happen, and was back at her side before the person behind her was fully at her sled. I was even telling him "She's saying that you're standing on her leg, so perhaps get off of her if you want to help".

Block leaves behind a wife and 3 kids. Wife Lucy and his oldest, Lia, were both occasional competitors in ARA themselves. 

Well, that totally sucks.