A young footballer plunged to his death after going over the edge of a black run while skiing.
Nikolas Begalke, aged 22, fell around 66ft and landed in a wooded area below the piste at around 2pm on Saturday. Paramedics who rushed to the scene were only able to confirm his death. The reasons for the fall remain unclear, but police say they are treating it as a tragic accident.
They said there is no evidence of third-party involvement in the death at the Hochzillertal ski resort in Kaltenbach, Austria. Nikolas was from Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and played football for clubs including SpVgg Horsthausen, SC Westfalia Herne and DSC Wanne-Eickel.
The midfielder joined Horsthausen in summer 2024 and was playing in Germany’s eighth-tier Kreisliga A, as reported by NeedToKnow. Paying tribute, the club said: “Nikolas was not just a player, but a wonderful person, a good teammate and a genuinely sincere guy. His loss will hurt us deeply.”
Nikolas had also helped former club Westfalia Herne earn promotion from the seventh tier to the sixth. Their spokesperson said: “Nikolas Begalke led our A-Youth team as a defender in the 2021/2022 season under coach Jörg Tottmann to the Bezirksliga title and promotion back to the Landesliga. We will always remember him with gratitude.”
Nikolas studied International Business Management at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund, Germany, and Business Entrepreneurship at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, in the US.
Dordt said in a statement: “Niko first came to Dordt in the fall of 2022 to study business and play soccer. After transferring to a university in Germany to be closer to family and recover from an injury, he chose to return to Dordt for a study-abroad experience.”
His football coach, Eric Bourdo, described him as “one of those unique individuals who had a curious mind and a caring heart”. He added: “Niko had a genuine hunger to learn in the classroom and in life.
“Injuries prevented Niko from ever really getting the playing experience he desired from his two seasons at Dordt, but he never let that knock him down. He was always the first person to support his teammates through quiet encouragement. Dordt’s men soccer program is a better place because Niko was involved.”
