Ken Block Dies in Snowmobile Accident UPDATED

by Tim Healey

Published: January 2nd, 2023

ken block dies in snowmobile accident updated

Professional rally driver Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident in Utah on Monday.

He was 55 years old.

Block was known for helping found DC Shoes, being a rally-car driver, cultivating the Hoonigan automotive-enthusiast lifestyle and merchandise brand, and starting up the series of Gymkhana stunt videos.

"It’s with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today," the Hoonigan brand said in a statement posted on its Instagram page. "Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed. Please respect the family’s privacy at this time while they grieve."

Block's hobbies in the winter included snowboarding and snowmobiling.

He is survived by his wife, Lucy, and three children. This is a developing story and we will follow up as we learn more, either via updates to this post or with follow-up stories.

RIP, Ken Block.

Further Updates from CNN: "The accident occurred at 2 p.m. when Block was riding a snowmobile down a steep slope in Wasatch County, Utah, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office. The snowmobile upended and landed on top of Block, the Sheriff’s Office said, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene from injuries sustained in the accident.

'Mr. Block was riding with a group but was alone when the accident occurred,' a statement from the Sherriff’s Office said. 'The State Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of death. We are saddened to hear of the loss of Kenneth and our hearts are with his family and friends so deeply affected. We thank all of our first responders for their continued service.'"

[Image: Sarnia/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 10 comments

Jkross22 on Jan 03, 2023

It's one thing to do these things as a young single dude, but when you're a dad, many of us have a switch in our brain that gets toggled. You choose just to not take the corner above 9/10ths or take risks that don't scratch out. No doubt his family wished he made a different choice.

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Zerofoo on Jan 03, 2023

Ken seemed like a good guy. Hopefully his family will somehow find peace after this.

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