It has been two years since 18-year-old Vail local Emily Franciose was killed in an avalanche in Switzerland, but it still feels like yesterday for her family.

On Friday, in recognition of the date, several dozen members of the Vail Ski Patrol participated in a ski-down on Pepi’s Face at the conclusion of their regular work day. Emily’s father, Reg, has long served as the ski patrol’s medical director, but on Friday, the group was led down the slope by Emily’s mother, Sue Franciose.

Sue Franciose said the Vail Ski Patrol and the Eagle County community coming together around Emily’s memory has eased her transition to life without her daughter.

---

---

“To have this support is really nice, really helpful,” she said.

The Ski Patrol carried smoke canisters and a sign that said “We ski for Emily.” At the bottom of the run, the group gathered for photos and a moment of silence.

---

---

It was the conclusion of a day that, while painful to remember for her family, was also celebratory in its remembrance of Emily. At Vail Mountain School, where Emily attended, a dance party took place earlier in the day, and Sue was invited to participate.

“We wore bright colored clothes and danced for 25 minutes,” Sue said. “It was really fun.”

Emily’s parents have collaborated with the school to establish the Emily Franciose Outdoor Learning Fund, with a goal of acquiring or constructing a backcountry hut named in Emily’s honor. The outdoor learning fund has raised more than $700,000 and is aligned with Vail Mountain School’s strategic plan to create a center for outdoor learning and experiential education.

Sue Franciose said she understands that in time, the younger kids from Vail Mountain School may not know who Emily was, but through the creation of a backcountry hut in Emily’s name, her passion for the outdoors can live on in the hearts of others.

And in participating in the dance for Emily on Friday, “the older kids were very cool about telling the younger kids who Emily was, and stories about her,” Sue said.

Born in August of 2004, Emily grew up in the Vail area and embraced nature with her family through rafting, kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, biking and skiing. She was introduced to the slopes at a young age and became an expert skier and telemark skier who would join in ski patrol sweeps with her dad, not unlike the sweep that the patrol had just wrapped up on Friday before participating in the ski down.

After attending Vail Mountain School from kindergarten through 11th grade, Emily chose to spend her senior year in the Swiss Alps, attending the international boarding school Ecole d’Humanité.

On March 21, 2023, she was with Guido Bieri, a longtime school employee who was in charge of the outdoors program, and Lukas Iten, a veteran area tour guide, on one of the many backcountry treks across the Alps her school had taken as part of its curriculum. They were on the Wellhorn peak above the Reichenbachtal valley when the avalanche occurred, killing Emily and one of her classmates.

On Friday, Sue Franciose said after two years, she’s come to accept and appreciate how much she feels the loss of Emily, who was her only child.

“And that’s OK, I want to feel that every day,” she said. “That’s how close we were. She lives with us in a different way now, and I feel her every day.”