Ski Safety Blog

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Tech 4 Kids Inc., of Canada, has announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using the OUTER EDGE Snow Bikes immediately, approximately 2,100 of which have been sold. The snow bikes were sold at Costco, sporting goods stores and other retailers nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Walmart.com from September 2010 through January 2011 for about $150.

The snow bikes suffer from a defect where the front ski can crack or break, causing the snow bike to stop suddenly and posing a fall hazard to consumers. Tech 4 Kids has received three reports of consumers falling off the recalled snow bikes and sustaining injuries as a result of the defective front ski cracking or breaking. Injuries included a cut requiring stitches and a dislocated shoulder.

The recall includes OUTER EDGE brand Snow MX-Ski-Doo® and the Snow MX-X Games™ snow bikes. The Snow MX-Ski-Doo snow bike is yellow and black with "Ski-doo" printed on the steel frame and on the front ski. The Snow MX-X Games snow bike is blue and black with "Snow MX," a skull and swords printed on the steel frame and on the front ski. "OUTER EDGE" is printed on the snow bikes' packaging.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled snow bikes and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund. For additional information, contact Tech 4 Kids toll-free at (866) 287-4761 , or visit the firm's website at www.outeredgeindustries.com/safetynotice/

Posted by Linda Chalat at 2:29 PM | Permalink

Former Central Michigan football player Brandon John Zukoff was the victim of an avalanche while skiing outside of Snowmass, Colorado on Tuesday. A member of former CMU coach Mike Debord's 2003 recruiting class, the 26-year old Grand Blanc (Mich.) native triggered, and then was caught in, an avalanche while skiing down a trail known as Sand's Chute. The 6-foot-5 Zukoff was an offensive linemen listed as No. 2 on this 2004 depth chart behind NFL draft pick Adam Kieft.

An article detailing Zukoff's tragic accident in the Vail Daily mentions the trail was unstable at the time Zukoff and three unnamed companions decided to descend it. Zukoff died when he triggered and was then caught in an avalanche as he skied down Sand's Chute off the west side of the ski area. Two companions -- one who skied safely down the chute first and one who picked a new route down after the slide caught Zukoff -- located and dug out their friend and determined he had been killed, authorities said at a press conference Wednesday in Aspen.

Members of the ski patrol and Mountain Rescue Aspen, as well as Brian McCall, local forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, assessed conditions in Sand's Chute and the surrounding area Wednesday morning and found the snow still unstable. The decision was made to delay recovery of Zukoff's body until the snowpack stabilizes, possibly on Friday, said Sheriff Joe DiSalvo.

And on Wednesday, 32-year-old Michigan man has died after crashing while skiing at Arapahoe Basin in western Colorado. Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson said the man crashed Wednesday afternoon and was in cardiac arrest when ski patrol members arrived. The man was flown to the hospital in Frisco, where he was pronounced dead. Richardson says the man, from Redford Township, Mich., died from blunt force trauma to his chest.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 4:59 PM | Permalink

A 14-year-old English schoolboy has been in a coma since he was strangled by his clothing after it became entangled on the chairlift in French ski resort. The boy was cut free by rescuers and resuscitated on the snow. He was then airlifted to a local hospital.

The boy, who has been in a coma since the accident, was on the L'Echo des Montagnes chair lift, a six-seater lift that opened last season. As the end of the ride approached, at an altitude of 6,500ft, the horizontal safety barrier that sits across the lap of skiers was raised to allow skiers to alight. However a strap from the boy's rucksack had become wedged in the metal bars of the seat. The boy was therefore unable to free himself in time and the lift, now travelling at a speed of 18 feet per second, had turned back on itself and had begun its decent down the mountain. Witnesses said as the youngster desperately fought to free himself he slipped and was suspended from the lift by his clothing that had ridden up around his neck and was throttling him.

The youngster, a pupil from Torquay Boys' Grammar School in Devon, England, was left hanging from the lift by a piece of clothing wrapped tightly around his neck. The student was with three schoolfriends on the lift. They were on an annual Spring half-term skiing trip in Portes du Soleil near Chatel. A police inquiry is under way to explain why the safety system, known as a gate, which stops the lift if a skier has not alighted at the top was not activated.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 2:17 PM | Permalink

Sheriff's deputies arrested pioneer backcountry skier Roland Fleck on Saturday at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and ski patrollers tobogganed him off the mountain in handcuffs after he refused to stop skiing uphill.

Each time the deputies asked him to cooperate, Fleck allegedly became argumentative. The deputies decided to arrest him, and he pulled away when one of them took hold of his arm. They got his hands behind his back and used two sets of handcuffs linked together to restrain him. They sat him in a toboggan with a deputy, and patrollers sledded them down the mountain. A second deputy took a chairlift down.

Fleck, 78, a longtime Jackson doctor, fitness buff and one of the original investors in Teton Village, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass, interference with an officer, unsafe skiing and theft of services. His extrication from the mountain came after up to seven ski patrollers spent 3.5 hours trying to stop him, reports said.

Roland Fleck has always been a big supporter of the ski area but believes he has a right to ski uphill, Dan Fleck, an attorney with The Spence Law Firm who is representing his father, told the local paper.

Ski patrollers told deputies who responded to the resort Saturday that a 78-year-old skier defied their orders to stop skiing uphill, skied over several patrollers' skis, refused an offer of a free day pass and refused to leave the resort, sheriff's Capt. Scott Terry said.

Deputies were transported to Roland Fleck's location at the NASTAR course under the Casper Lift in a toboggan, Terry said. They told Fleck skiing uphill was a violation of Wyoming law and that it is considered unsafe, he said.

They asked him to meet them at the base of the mountain so they could issue him a citation, but he refused to cooperate, Terry said. Deputies arrested Fleck and used two sets of handcuffs linked together behind his back to restrict his arms, Terry said. They sat him in a toboggan with a deputy as ski patrollers sledded him down the mountain, Terry said.

Fleck spent about seven hours in the Teton County Jail, an arrest summary report shows.

Whether prosecutors will file any charges against Fleck in 9th Circuit Court remains unclear. Teton County and Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman said Tuesday that if his office receives an investigation from the sheriff's office he will request that county commissioners appoint a special prosecutor in the case.

Terry questioned whether deputies were correct when they told Fleck skiing uphill is a violation of state statute. The statute says a skier cannot move uphill when impaired by alcohol or drugs or when the activity is done with reckless disregard for self or others. Nothing in police reports indicates deputies suspected Fleck was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The trespassing charge likely would apply to Fleck because resort regulations prohibit skiing uphill and the resort has a right to ask someone engaging in prohibited activities to leave, Terry said.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 4:45 PM | Permalink

On Jan. 27, a teen skied down the slopes of Trollhaugen Ski Area as part of her school's ski club activity, when she collided with a tree. Apparently the local girl, who has been an avid skier for four years, somehow got off the established trails and hit a steep section. She struck a tree, then a second tree, and suffered a traumatic head injury. Like most every member of the school's ski club, she was not wearing a helmet while skiing.

Soon after the accident, school officials called the family and told them that the teen was on the way to the St. Croix Health Center in St. Croix Falls. A few hours later, she was transported to Region's Hospital in the Twin Cities, where she was assigned a neurosurgeon.

She was diagnosed with a severely bruised frontal lobe, a blood clot and fractured skull. She had to have 32 stitches and have three metal plates surgically implanted in her skull. Doctors commented that a helmet might have prevented a lot of the damage.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 4:12 PM | Permalink

A 69-year-old Pennsylvania woman died Friday after a skiing accident on Windham Mountain, according to state police and resort officials. The victim was skiing with friends on the "Wedgie" trail when she fell, slid off the trail and struck a tree, shortly before noon.

Unfortunately, the woman was not wearing a helmet, and was treated for extensive head injuries by ski patrol and paramedics but later died after being transported to a local hospital.

Conditions were clear with calm winds and groomed, packed powder, the resort said. The Wedgie trail is rated "more difficult." Friends described the victim as a novice skier, while the resort said a friend called her a "lower intermediate" skier with more than 20 years experience.

This is the second skiing-related fatality on the mountain so far this year. Last month, an 18-year-old died from extensive head injuries after she similarly lost control on a trail and hit a tree. She was on the Upper Warpath trail, also marked "more difficult." She was also not wearing a helmet and described as a novice skier.

Before January's fatal accident, it had been 16 years since the last skiing death at Windham.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 9:31 AM | Permalink

Dozens of couples will tie the knot today before hitting the slopes at Loveland Ski Area. The ski area repors that more than 75 couples have signed up for the mass outdoor wedding ceremony held on Valentine's Day at the resort 50 miles west of Denver. After saying their vows, the couples will ski together down the mountain and then head to a joint reception. The ski weddings have been a Valentine's tradition at the resort for 20 years.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 9:39 AM | Permalink

A University of Denver student from Wisconsin has died from injuries he suffered in a skiing accident in January. The Summit County coroner's office says a 21-year-old from Milwaukee died Friday at St. Anthony's Central Hospital in Denver. Authorities say the student was skiing on an expert run at the Copper Mountain ski area Jan. 25 when he tumbled through some rocks. He suffered a brain injury was taken to the hospital in Frisco and then transferred to the Denver hospital.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 11:31 AM | Permalink

For the second time in a week, a child has died in a ski lift incident in Switzerland. A 12-year-old girl from Biel fell out of a chair lift while with a school ski group at the resort of Evolène, in the canton of Valais.

The girl slid 100 meters down the hill before crashing into a padded pylon. She later died in a local hospital from her injuries.

Last week a five-year-old boy died from injuries suffered on a ski lift at the resort of Schwende, in canton Appenzell Inner Rhodes. Both tragedies illustrate the critical need to adequately instruct children on the use of ski lifts and proper conduct lift chairs.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 3:48 PM | Permalink

Sadly another Ketchum, Idaho resident has died on Bald Mountain in less than four weeks. Wednesday, a skier died after colliding with a tree while skiing down Graduate, an intermediate ski run that descends off Lower College in the center of the mountain.

Valley Ski Patrol responded to a report of an "unconscious and unresponsive" male skier in the "Graduate area" of Baldy just after 11 a.m. Wednesday morning. The victim could not be revived and was pronounced dead by the coroner at 11:19 a.m. The victim was within ski-area boundaries but was not wearing a helmet. The incident is being investigated, and details about the cause or the conditions of the accident have not been established.

The last death on Bald Mountain was Jan. 22, 2010, when a skier was struck by an avalanche while skiing down an ungroomed area near the bottom of Fire Trail run on Seattle Ridge.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 3:45 PM | Permalink

Avalanche airbags from companies like Snow Pulse and Backcountry Access are designed to inflate in the event of an avalanche, helping the victim to stay afloat on the snow to prevent suffocation, and protecting the head and neck from blunt force trauma. But now an Italian company Dainese has designed a more conventional type of airbag designed to protect skiers in the event of a crash. The company's D-Air wearable airbag was originally designed for motorcycle racing and will soon launch in a street and racing version.

With its motorcycle version well in the works, Dainese has moved some of its focus off the asphalt and into the mountains in signing an agreement with the International Ski Federation (FIS) toward adapting the motorcycle-based D-Air system to the ski slopes to protect skiers from high-impact crashes.

The motorcycle version is essentially a vest with a series of sensors like accelerometers, gyrometers and a GPS. When those sensors detect a crash, the pressurized system delivers an airbag much like a car. The airbag is deployed as fast as 45 milliseconds and protects the riders neck, shoulders and collarbone, augmenting the head protection provided by the helmet.

While it might seem like a skier could just pick up a motorcycle D-Air and be protected, the company will need to recalibrate the system based upon ski data. The system is sensitive enough to decipher between a normal fall and a dangerous crash and it will need data specific to skiing to provide the same level of protection to ski racers.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 9:36 PM | Permalink

The lift that failed at Sugarloaf ski area in late December was more than three weeks overdue for a load test when a cable derailed, injuring eight skiers. See Sugarloaf Ski Accident Investigation. But the state had granted an extension to give the Sugarloaf resort more time for the test, which is supposed to be conducted every seven years. Records from the Maine Elevator and Tramway Board show that the Spillway East chairlift last received a load test on Dec. 4, 2003.

Doug Dunbar of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation said today that the lift was properly licensed and passed all annual inspections. The chairlift remains closed during an investigation. Dunbar says there will be extensive testing, including load tests, before the lift reopens.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 3:00 PM | Permalink

Sadly two deaths occurred this past weekend which highlight the need to take safety measures whenever you hit the slopes. A Washington state skier died on Friday, just two days after a fall in a terrain park, and on Sunday an Oregon man was killed when he fell at Mount Hood.

The Kitsap County, Washington man injured in a ski accident at Crystal Mountain ski resort died Friday, two days after taking a spill at the mountain's terrain park. The skier was evidently caught by surprise by a roll, a terrain-park feature where the ground drops away mildly. He fell and suffered a spinal-cord injury that immediately paralyzed him from the jaw down. He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he later died.

The skier had to go through a gate and pass a sign to enter the terrain park, and was a season pass-holder. This tragic accident highlights the unique nature of the terrain parks located in many ski areas - the skiing experience is completely different and terrain areas should only be entered with a clear idea of what you might face.

And on Sunday, a skiing accident happened at the Mount Hood Meadows area. One skier was killed when he fell while skiing on steep terrain in the area of Memorial Bowl. This area is classified as a double black diamond run. The victim hit his head when he slammed into a tree, causing head injuries that appear to have been the cause of his death. He was not wearing a helmet.

The numbers are a little daunting when reviewing the ski deaths - cautionary tales to inspire one to do everything you can to avoid injury. Stay aware of your surroundings, anticipate changes in terrain and always wear a helmet on the slopes.

Posted by Linda Chalat at 4:47 PM | Permalink