Westport Father Of 3 Dies After Mountain Endurance Challenge

WESTPORT, CT — A father of three died after participating in a mountain endurance event in Wyoming.

Slava Leykind, 43, of Westport, was an athlete in the "Everesting" challenge at Snow King Mountain. He died several days after participating in the endurance event late last month, according to the Jackson Hole News and Guide.

He was taken from Jackson Hole to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, where he died July 2.

The Teton County coroner determined Leykind died due to “an electrolyte imbalance causing cardiac arrest,” the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported.

The "Everesting" challenge that Leykind took part in is described on its website: "What if Mt. Everest and 29,029 vertical feet came to you?"

The event is called "a new category of challenge that's equal parts physical, mental, and spiritual..." Participants have 36 hours to repeatedly climb a peak until they reach 29,029 vertical feet. Snow King Mountain is a 1,571-ft. peak in Jackson Hole.

Leykind was born in Minsk, USSR and emigrated with his family to Minneapolis in 1988. In 2006, he took a job at investment banking firm Sawaya Segalas and "began the job that would distinguish him as a leader in the banking industry," according to his obituary.

He became one of the bank's three seniormost partners. In 2021, he became co-head of US Consumer Investment Banking for the company, which was acquired by Canaccord Genuity, according to his obituary.

Leykind's "role as a husband and father was his greatest achievement, passion and pride," and he "fervently supported his children, bringing love and a sense of calm to the wonderful chaos of a full house," his obituary reads.