That's a shitty way to go in the new year 😞. Sometimes I think the thrill of the danger is what drives people to enjoy the sport. Driving F1 at high speed, going off piste when skiing, surfing with the sharks, playing with crocodiles... They probably prefer to die doing something they love rather than wilting away on a death bed when they're 80 years old
Humans take risks, some calculated and some not, and like you say, this fellow decided to go and do something he was passionate about and died for it. Hopefully the good times he had in the years he did it were very good because he traded the rest of his life, and everything he may have done and enjoyed for many years to come for them. Others will be out there today doing the same.