Recreational skiers typically know that stretching and condition will help avoid sore muscles and soft tissue injuries, but now research shows the dangers of hitting the slopes unprepared include the spike in the number of heart attacks in the first two days of a ski holiday.
A prominent former Australian television and newspaper reporter was killed Sunday when he collided with a tree while skiing at Perisher. Michael Meagher, 55, of Sydney, was skiing in the Guthega area of Perisher Ski Area when he took a shortcut through the trees off the Wombat's Lament ski run, an intermediate trail, at around 10 a.m. Sunday morning when he collided with a tree, according to those who witnessed the incident. He was not wearing a helmet.
Perisher Ski Patrol, NSW Ambulance and Perisher Medical Centre staff promptly attended to the scene, where Meagher was pronounced dead of massive head injuries.
Meagher was a senior member of corporate communications firm CPR, and was previously employed as a journalist with The Australian, The Bulletin and on television at the Nine Network. He had a senior role in media and communications with the Australian Olympic Commission during the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, and also served as an associate editor at BRW Magazine.
The toll continues to climb for Mt Hutt visitors. An 80 year old died as he was preparing to run a race slope:. This brings the number of deaths this season up to six
June 13 - Queenstown mum Janine Learmonth, 32, suffers a serious neck injury after being trapped by a chairlift safety bar at Coronet Peak
June 14 - Arthur Richardson, 60, from Christchurch, dies after his car veers off the access road at Mt Hutt and down a cliff when driving home from the mountain
June 23 - A 21-year-old female American student dies in hospital in Christchurch days after seriously injuring herself while skiing off-trail at Mt Hutt
July 12 - Christchurch woman Dimity Anne Tomkins, 54, dies after falling while skiing outside the boundary of the Mt Hutt skifield
August 6 - Snowboarder Nello Donaggio, 30, dies after sliding 100 metres at Mt Hutt and suffering multiple fractures and a major head injury
August 10 - An 80-year-old Japanese man dies at hospital in Dunedin after seriously injuring himself in a fall while skiing at Coronet Peak
Another skier has died from injuries after falling about 300 meters at Mount Hutt Ski Area last week, the third skiing fatality on the mountain this season. The snowboarder, about 30 years old, was with two friends when he slid while traversing back from groomed terrain to the bottom of the Triple chairlift, a ski area spokesman reported. He appeared to have caught an edge while traversing the area. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the incident, and suffered head injuries.
While an aching head may seem an obvious indicator of harm, athletes don't always recognize the severity of injury, or become concerned too late. If a helmet could indicate the severity of a blow suffered by the wearer, then questions of when to seek medical attention may be eliminated.
A gondola at Whistler resort that collapsed, injuring a dozen people, went down because water seeped in and then expanded when it froze, ripping the structure apart says a report by the British Columbia Safety Authority. The authority has issued a safety order for all ski hill towers in the province to be fitted with drain holes by November to prevent any similar incidents.
Continue reading "Gondola Collapse Spurs Call for Changes" »
Two skiing deaths within a month have prompted calls for helmets to be mandatory for everyone on New Zealand slopes. A woman died last night after she fell while skiing outside the boundary of the Mt Hutt ski-field. The 54-year-old woman was skiing with her teenage daughter on the southwest face yesterday when she slipped and fell about 500 meters over rocks, a Mt Hutt Ski Area spokesman reported. The woman was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital where she died that evening.
Last month, an American woman died while skiing off-trail at Mt Hutt. The 21-year-old student slid about 130m and hit rocks before sliding another 30m.
Lift accidents in Colorado typically occur during the ski season, but during Aspen's Fourth of July fireworks five valley residents were on a wooden platform when it collapsed and fell 12-15 feet to the ground.
Canadian researchers have analyzed a decade's worth of accidents involving snowboarders and skiers in Quebec, concluding that helmets do not increase neck injuries. In slightly more than a quarter of nearly 3,000 neck injuries, the injured person had worn a helmet during the mishap. By contrast, only about one-fifth of those who had sustained injuries below the neck had worn one.
Continue reading "Ski Helmets Do Not Increase Neck Injuries" »
Ski equipment manufacturer Salomon has issued a recall on Quest Pro ski boots following an accident that has left a man with a severe leg injury. A serious fall suffered by a man in the USA after his ski boot released has brought to light a potential technical issue with Salomon Quest Pro ski boots when used for touring purposes. It is believed the boot may not be compatible with some touring bindings.
The last full week that most Colorado ski areas will be open this season unfortunately has seen another skier death. A man died while snowboarding at the Breckenridge ski area on Wednesday. The 27 year old from Iowa was a recent transplant to Colorado. Ski patrol members found the victim in some trees Wednesday while doing a final check of the slopes. They tried to revive him, but determined he was dead. He had suffered a fractured neck, according to Summit County Coroner.
A 30-year-old man died last weekend in Whistler when he was snowboarding out of bounds. In a twist on the tree well accidents, he fell headfirst into a hole created by wind-fallen timber and suffocated in the deep snow.
The tragic accident occurred in Khyber Pass, off the backside of Whistler Mountain. Witnesses spotted the man, dug him out of the snow, and attempted to revive him. After about an hour, Whistler Mountain Ski Patrol, Whistler Search and Rescue and a helicopter found the victim and the witnesses. All attempts to revive the victim proved unsuccessful.
A mid-February skiing accident at Park City Mountain Resort could result in a man being charged under City Hall's reckless skiing law. Witnesses informed the Park City Police Department that the man was skiing unusually fast when he fell and crashed into a girl.
A Brooklyn assemblyman wants ski helmets to be mandatory. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz makes no apology for wanting to require the protective headgear at ski areas.
Last week three ski deaths occurred due to skiers losing control and colliding with a tree.
A memorial was held Friday for an Edmonton teenager who was killed during a ski trip in B.C. The 16 year old died Monday morning after he lost control and slammed into a tree at the Panorama Ski Resort near Invermere, B.C. The accident happened at the junction of two blue runs, described as being moderately-difficult.
Continue reading " Last Week Tree Collisions Result in 3 Ski Deaths" »
Sadly, another victim has been taken by a Colorado avalanche. On Wednesday, a backcountry snowboarder was killed in an avalanche a mile west of Arapahoe Basin.
A five year old fell from a chair lift and was dragged for several feet before the operator responded. His parents said a chair lift operator at the Sierra-At-Tahoe Resort wasn't paying attention when the boy fell out, resulting in his hips and thighs being in a cast.
The conditions on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area's Lincoln Mountain last Saturday were picture perfect. The week's storms had dumped more than six feet of snow, and this was a day for exhilaration - and risk.
A December incident at Devil's Head Resort might lead to new national safety standards that would require resorts across the country to install new equipment on old chair lifts. Authorities say a lift at Devil's Head in Merrimac started rolling backward rapidly Dec. 17, causing frightened skiers and snow boarders to jump from heights of up to 40 feet to avoid being flung from their chairs at the bottom of the hill. A total of 14 people were injured, but none seriously.
A snowboarder has been found alive and well after surviving a three-day storm in the southern Colorado backcountry with only a single energy bar to eat. A helicopter search team found 42-year-old Wayne Alexander Brown on Tuesday near a U.S. Forest Service cabin where he spent the last two nights, Mineral County spokesman Charles Downing said.
Continue reading "Snowboarder Found In Good Shape After 3 Days" »
The new snow this weekend tempted two skiers at Aspen Highlands to duck a rope and head into out of bounds territory. They were spotted by a ski patroller who followed the pair. An avalanche was triggered by the skiers and partially buried the ski patroller. The patroller extricated himself from the slide Sunday and wasn't hurt. The skiers left, and resort officials weren't able to find them. Those that duck ropes and ignore ski area rules put others in harm's way.
Another avalanche, this one on Sunday afternoon, partially buried a snowboarder between Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and the summit of Loveland Pass. Another snowboarder involved was left unscathed. No injuries resulted from the slide, though snow did come across the road and closed the highway.
Continue reading "Second Colorado Avalanche Striking Vicitms" »
Last Thursday a backcountry avalanche which killed a skier and injured another was "human" caused, triggered by skiers above the two men who were swept down the mountain, investigators have announced. The avalanche on Thursday claimed the life of a Colorado skier who died of multiple traumatic injuries suffered after "being caught in an avalanche and hitting a tree." The coroner's office is ruling his death "accidental."
A 24-year-old woman from the far south suburbs of Chicago died Sunday in a snowboarding accident at Copper Mountain. The victim was found Sunday morning in some trees off an expert trail at the Copper Mountain ski area. She was airlifted to an area hospital where she later died. The coroner's office says she was wearing a helmet.
Continue reading "Skiing Accidents Claim Two More Lives in Colorado" »
A skier was killed in an avalanche on Friday on Sun Valley Resort's Bald Mountain, Idaho. The coroner says the avalanche was reported at 2:31 p.m. Friday and that Michael was located about 15 minutes later by the Sun Valley Ski Patrol. Resuscitation efforts were performed while the victim was being transported to a local medical clinic, but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 3:31 p.m. at Wood River Medical Center on Friday due to suffocation.
More skiers are wearing helmets on the slopes, and the youngest and oldest skiers are the ones most likely to wear protective head gear. A study by the Colorado-based National Ski Areas Association shows that nearly half of all skiers wore helmets last season, 48 percent. That's up from a 43 percent helmet rate during the 2007-2008 ski season.
Continue reading "Ski Helmet Use Surging For All But Young Adults" »
A California woman died in a Colorado heli-skiing accident after she fell into a creek and apparently drowned when her helmet got stuck between two rocks. A California woman was downhill skiing with a guide in the Mineral Creek Basin near Telluride on Saturday morning when she crossed a creek.
Another young skier fell from a ski lift, this one on a chair that had a safety bar. Tuesday's fall in Park City marked at least the third time a skier fell off a chair at a Rocky Mountain ski area in less than a month, and the fourth reported by international news sources.
On the afternoon of January 2, 2010, a 9 year old female victim was struck and injured by an unknown white male snowboarder while on the slopes at Bear Mountain Ski Resort, California. The male snowboarder struck the victim and continued down the run without making contact with the victim. The young girl sustained injuries that included a compound fracture to her femur and severe facial injuries. The victim was flown to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries.
A 14-year-old girl died from injuries suffered in a ski accident Tuesday at Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort. She was skiing on the backside at DMR with her friends on an intermediate run, when she hit a tree and suffered an injury to her liver. The unconscious girl was airlifted to Mercy.
The young girl was taken to the top of Chairlift 1 and flown to Mercy Regional Medical Center where she died Tuesday, said La Plata County coroner Carol Huser. She was skiing with a school group from Bayfield, Colorado.
In November, a 14-year-old died after hitting a tree in a Breckenridge run and in December, a 22-year-old University of Colorado student died when he fell head-first into deep snow at Wolf Creek Ski Area. The cause of death was suffocation and hypothermia.
On Wednesday, a 23-year-old ski instructor from Cedar, Mich., was found dead in a tree well beneath 2 feet of snow at the Steamboat ski area. The victim was an instructor at Arapahoe Basin Ski and Snowboard area.
Emily O'Rourke from Mullingar, Ireland, dangled for nearly a minute before she slipped from the grasp of fellow skiers onto the ice and snow thirty feet below in Westendorf, Austria. She is being treated for three cracked vertebrae in a hospital in nearby Sankt Johann. Doctors expect her to make a full recovery after Sunday's fall.
Another young child has fallen off a ski lift, this time in Jackson, Wyoming. Jackson Hole Fire Battalion Chief Mike Moyer reported that 7-year-old Blaize Oswald was responsive when the ski patrol got to him Wednesday, New Years Eve. Authorities say the boy who fell 30 feet at Snow King Resort is in stable condition and recovering from injuries -- a ruptured lung and minor brain bleeding -- at a Salt Lake City hospital.
Continue reading "Second Child Falls From Lift In As Many Weeks" »
Sadly, a second ski death has occurred at Breckenridge Ski Resort this season. A Florida man was killed Christmas Eve morning on an intermediate trail at Breckenridge. Summit County investigators said the man missed a turn from the intermediate Angel's Rest trail at the Monte Cristo trail and skied into a tree. He was not wearing a helmet and died from trauma to his head and pelvis, the Summit County Coroner's Office said in a statement.
Continue reading "Second Ski Death of the Season at Breckenridge" »
This past Saturday a four-year old girl fell from a ski chairlift at about 4:30 p.m. A skier witnessed the girl fall from a chairlift and called it in. The girl fell from the Sunnyside lift about 30-35 feet at Alta Ski Resort. Alta is located just 25 miles southeast of Salt Lake City at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
When ski patrol arrived, the girl was not breathing and was unconscious. Ski patrol was able to revive the child after performing CPR and took her to the landing zone for life flight at the resort. The child was taken by a medical helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition. The girl has since been updated to serious condition.
A packed ski lift at a Wisconsin ski resort suddenly began running backwards yesterday, injuring at least a dozen people. Sauk County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Chip Meister said the incident occurred around 7 p.m. Thursday at Devil's Head Resort in Merrimac, about 25 miles northwest of Madison. The lift was operating normally until it stopped and reversed direction.
The International Ski Federation is calling on Alpine racers and coaches to help find reasons for the high number of serious accidents in World Cup races. The governing body is concerned about the trend and will review equipment rules for possible changes, FIS president Gian Franco Kasper said Friday.
For many foreign travelers, accidents on the slopes trigger travel insurance claims. Most Britons are failing to take out winter sports holiday insurance prior to their ski and snowboard trips, a report has suggested. AA Travel Insurance said that recession-hit holidaymakers are trying to "squeeze the most out of their income" and are therefore less likely to purchase the cover.
Continue reading "Ski Holidays Not Covered by Travel Insurance" »
Alex Singer, 22, a senior at University of Colorado at Boulder became the second ski fatality of the season last week. He was found dead Wednesday at the Wolf Creek Ski Area in southwest Colorado.
With the skiing season fast approaching, skiers are warned to look out for drunks on the piste and to remember that if you cause and accident whilst drunk, you will not be covered by insurance. Most travel insurance contracts include an exclusion regarding claims made as a result of alcohol consumption. Skiers should be aware of the risk they take if drinking when on holiday; insurance providers are fully within their rights to decline claims involving alcohol, as it is reasonable to assume adequate care was not taken," said Steve Williams, head of travel insurance at Confused.com.
According to the National Ski Areas Association, helmet usage grew 12 percent last year over the previous season, and 48 percent of skiers and riders now wear helmets, up from only 25 percent six years ago. Some of that increase might be the imitation factor, said Troy Hawkes of the National Ski Areas Association, but much of it has to do with an increased awareness about on-snow safety.
Every year dozens of holiday skiers return to Britain on stretchers and a few in coffins. Now the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is launching a don't-drink-and-ski campaign in an attempt to cut the number injuring or killing themselves on the slopes of France, Switzerland and Italy.
A top Canadian brain surgeon and seasoned skier, Dr. Charles Tator, is advocating helmet use for all those who enjoy snow sports. Around the world traumatic brain injuries are on the rise, probably due to increased speed and acrobatics in skiing and snowboarding and helmets definitely save lives, says Tator, the foremost expert on spinal cord and head injuries in sports.
A man was arrested near Arapahoe Basin Ski Area recently after apparently trying to sneak in a few early-season runs. According to Summit County Sheriff's office, ski patrollers tried to stop the snowboarder at the top of the ski area after he allegedly hiked up Sundance run and boarded the Norway Lift. The man was told to meet with the general manager at the bottom of the mountain by the ski patrollers, but he snowboarded away and attempted to enter another lift line, causing a commotion.
Sadly, just before the Thanksgiving holiday week the first ski death of the 2009-2010 season occurred at Breckenridge Ski Resort. A 14-year-old Colorado Springs girl died Friday after a ski incident on intermediate Spruce trail at Breckenridge. The teen was reportedly "skiing very fast and into a tree," according to a press release from Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson. The young victim was wearing a helmet, but the collision resulted in fatal injuries. Cause and manner of death are pending investigation but are related to blunt force trauma to the chest, according to Richardson.
A call came in to Ski Patrol at 11:48 a.m. and Flight for Life provided advanced life support before the girl was transported by ambulance to Breckenridge Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the press release.
According to a report released in Innsbruck, nine out of ten skiing and snowboarding accidents involve only one person. Sports scientist Gerhard Ruedl from Innsbruck University's Sports Sciences Institute said a study based on 3,000 injured skiers and snowboarders last season found that just eight per cent of accidents on Austrian slopes involved collisions between more than one person. The scientist said another result of the survey was that more and more snowboarding accidents - one in ten in the past winter season - occur at fun (terrain) parks. Ruedl said skiing had the reputation of a dangerous sport, while only 1.2 to 1.7 in 1,000 skiers injure themselves every winter, adding that the risk of an accident had fallen by around ten per cent in the past ten years.
The Austrian Committee for Traffic Safety (KfV) recently announced they expected around 56,000 of the nine to ten million people skiing or snowboarding on Austrian slopes this winter to end up in hospital as 58,100 people had been severely injured during the last winter season.
Everyone has heard the jokes about being a mile-high in Colorado ski towns, where alcohol in the open and illicit drugs in the shadows are perceived by many as the norm. But two weeks ago Breckenridge asked voters whether the possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized and the response was a resounding "yes."
Continue reading "Breckenridge To Become Bong Capital of Colorado?" »
Last season, head injuries accounted for almost a quarter of all ski injuries sustained on the slopes but a recent study has found that only 42 per cent of British skiers plan to wear a ski helmet next season. The survey, which was conducted by Ski Club of Great Britain and Ski Republic, a ski and snowboard equipment hire company, also found that of the 17,500 head injuries sustained last season, 7,700 injuries and 11 deaths could have been avoided if a helmet had been worn.
Ski lift tickets went on sale at A-Basin October 9th, so it couldn't be long before the Summit County Sheriff's department began issuing their special brand of tickets. The first of the season appears to be ones issued to a half dozen people for possession of "small amounts of marijuana" at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Arena parking lot. Were they heading home or onto the slopes? Either way it doesn't make the rest of us feel particularly safe
This ski season, resort owner Intrawest is requiring helmets for all youth in ski school and students of any age in freestyle terrain parks. Age limits for "youth" will be determined by each resort. Previously, parents could opt out of having their children wear helmets in certain programs at some resorts.
A newly married man died and his wife was injured when he fell from the Tamarack Express Chair and down a mountain at Heavenly Ski Area on Monday afternoon. Lift malfunction may be the cause of the deadly fall.
The Wyoming Department of Employment has cited Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for failing to protect ski patroller Kathryn Miller with a helmet when she died in a fall last winter. Miller died of head injuries after falling in Spacewalk Couloir, a steep rock-sided chute at the resort's Rendezvous Mountain permit area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Continue reading "Resort Cited for Not Providing Patroller Helmet" »
The family of a teenage boy killed in a 2005 avalanche on Mount Charleston recently settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort.
The lawsuit, brought by the family of 13-year-old Allen Brett Hutchison, alleged that the resort ignored warnings of the danger of an avalanche on the day Hutchison was killed. An avalanche swept Hutchison off a ski lift on Jan. 9, 2005, and buried him under two to four feet of snow. Rescue crews searched for Hutchison for more than six hours before they recovered his body. He died from asphyxia.
Continue reading "Las Vegas Resort Settles Avalanche Death Claim" »
Today Vail Resorts announced that all its employees will be required to wear helmets while skiing or snowboarding on the job starting with the 2009-2010 season. Vail also will require helmets for all children age 12 and under who take group lessons through its schools, and helmets will be part of the resort's children's rental packages unless parents or guardians sign a waiver.
Vail Resorts, based in the Denver suburb of Broomfield, owns the Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone resorts in Colorado and Heavenly in California. The policy will be in force at all five of its resorts in Colorado as well as Heavenly. The company says it strongly recommends helmets for skiers of all ages
Unless you are an experienced, skilled skier, taking a ski or snowboard lesson is always a good idea and for beginners it is essential to learning the basics of either sport. Beginners should learn the basics from a professional, not a well-meaning friend. Attempting to ski or snowboard with little or no instruction increases your risk of injury and can result in an unfavorable or disappointing first experience.
A western New York skier faces a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge after a collision three weeks ago that seriously injured a veteran ski instructor.
Dominic Galasso, 25, was charged by state police with a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment, stemming from a March 4 collision at Kissing Bridge with Carl Hensler, 64, of Fort Erie, Ont.
Matt Davis, 19, won't be skiing for the next year. He will be recovering from a fractured leg after slamming into a tree at Alyeska Ski Resort. But, even after he recovers, his skiing days at Alyeska are over. The Ski Patrol has banned him from the mountain.
For the second time this season, a high profile tragedy on the ski slopes has stimulated discussion about the use of ski helmets. See Fatal Austrian Ski Accident Reignites Helmet Debate .
National statistics do demonstrate that skiing is a relatively safe recreational activity, but for the hundreds of participants each year who are injured by an inattentive lift operator or walloped by a fellow skier, the consequences can often be life-changing if not fatal. The National Ski Areas Association, the trade group that represents ski resorts as well as ski gear manufacturers, published a 2006 fact sheet reporting there were 2.07 skiing/snowboarding fatalities per million participants, fewer than for bicycling or swimming. The group says a person is twice as likely to die from being struck by lightning as in a skiing or snowboarding accident.
Continue reading "Another Tragic Head Injury on Ski Slopes" »
The widow of a Rhode Island man who died last year while skiing in Killington has filed a lawsuit against a Killington ski shop and Giro, one of the largest ski helmet manufacturers, and Motorola for the Bluetooth device he was wearing at the time of his death.
According to a lawsuit filed this month in federal court in Burlington, Kirk W. O'Brien, 44, was wearing a Giro Omen Model S216 helmet equipped with a Motorola S805 Bluetooth Audio System designed specifically for the helmet when he crashed into a tree at Killington Mountain Ski Resort Feb. 18, 2008, and suffered a fatal skull fracture.
A 30-year old snowboard instructor, died Thursday after hitting a tree at the Buttermilk Mountain ski area. The instructor was off-duty, but in uniform. He was described as "going fast" when he collided with a tree in a small tree island on the Columbine run on the lower half of Buttermilk. He was not wearing a helmet and suffered head trauma.
Continue reading "Aspen Snowboard Instructor Dies in Collision" »
Demonstarting how seriously Colorado ski areas take the risk posed to skiers who enter closed areas, five skiers were charged Saturday at Aspen Highlands for violating the state's Ski Safety Act after allegedly skiing in a closed area at the top of Highland Bowl. A Pitkin County sheriff's deputy issued each skier a court summons, and all face a maximum fine of $1,000 each.
The past week has been a tragic one for North American skiers, with an incredible five deaths occurring in the past seven days. Four of the deaths resulted when skiers collided into trees. Without autopsy results, it is not possible to know whether a helmet would have saved any of the victims, but is known that at least two of the skiers were without helmets.
Nordica USA issued a voluntary recall to repair 4,500 XBi ALU Skis and Binding Plates that can crack and break, causing the skier to lose control and posing a fall hazard to skiers, as well as causing the potential for skiers to suffer injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
It is a parent's worst fear, but not an uncommon occurrence on the ski slopes - accidentally losing a child while travelling down the mountain. Ski areas of course have procedures for missing persons, the first step is to contact resort staff and inform them of the missing child. Notification is then sent out to everyone on the mountain. This will include Ski Patrol, Ski School, Guest Services, lift mechanics, lift electricians, and even the groomers. When appropriate, the local sheriff's department and police also can be called.
On January 16th, three men ventured out on the Gore Mountain Range overlooking Vail on a backcountry trip. When they triggered an avalanche, the men were carried 20 feet down the slope, buried close enough to one another that eventually they could communicate through the snow.
All three were buried under as much as 7 feet of snow for more than two hours without help. Their survival is credited to an increasingly popular device known as the AvaLung. They were also each equipped with the standard backcountry snow tools of avalanche beacons, shovels and probe poles.
During the month of January, three teenage girls died due to injuries suffered while skiing. A 16-year-old Indiana girl died after hitting a tree just off a ski slope at Michigan's Treetops Resort on January 10th. She was not wearing a helmet and died of head injuries. A 15-year-old Utah girl died January 14th in a skiing accident at Alta Ski Area. She skied into the trees and fell into a tree well, dying of asphyxiation. She was also without a helmet. And finally, a 16-year-old from Connecticut, died from injuries suffered after crashing into a tree at Sugarloaf/USA last week. The loss of three young women is tragic and unusual - males are far more likely to suffer a fatal ski accident. According to the National Ski Areas Association, during the 2007-08 season, 53 fatalities occurred out of the 60.5 million skier/snowboarder days reported across the country for the season. Forty-four of the fatalities were skiers (38 male, six female) and nine of the fatalities were snowboarders (eight male, one female).
This year has seen a dramatic improvement in ski conditions in the Alps, but Germans and Austrians have had a dark cloud appear over their slopes after a tragic accident in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
A fatal skiing accident occurred on New Year's Day when Dieter Althaus, a powerful German politician, collided into Beata Christendl on a ski slope at the Austrian resort of Riesneralm. Christendl, a Slovakian mother of four who lived in the United States, was not wearing a helmet and died from head injuries caused by the collision. Althaus, governor of the eastern German state of Thuringia, remains hospitalized, was placed in an induced coma but is now conscious. According to surgeons, he suffered injuries to the skull and brain. Neurologists said it was likely that the helmet that he was wearing saved his life.
Continue reading "Fatal Austrian Ski Accident Reignites Helmet Debate" »
Officials with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, CAIC, which forecasts avalanches in Colorado - the state that leads the nation in avalanche deaths most years - say a rainy fall in the region has increased avalanche risk. The numbers are shocking; nine people have died in avalanches across the United States so far this season, compared to a total of 36 fatalities for the entire 2007-08 season. And on Monday, the bodies of seven snowmobilers were recovered, with an eighth victim remaining unfound, in British Columbia's Elk Valley, about 550 miles east of Vancouver. The snowmobilers were killed when they were swept away by avalanches.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Atomic Skis USA, today announced a voluntary recall of the Atomic Alpine Ski Bindings. The heel housing of the bindings can crack, causing the binding to release unexpectedly. This can cause the skier to lose control or fall and suffer injuries.
Atomic reports about 125,000 units were sold in the U.S. (an additional 1.0 million were sold outside the U.S.) Atomic has received four reports of injuries, including a concussion and injuries to the shoulder and knee from falls.The bndings were sold at authorized Atomic USA ski dealers nationwide from 1998 through 2005 for between $150 and $350.
Sadly, the first ski death in Colorado occurred this weekend. A skier in Aspen is dead after he was caught in an avalanche outside the ski-area boundary last night. The skier, a local who lived in Old Snowmass, was trapped beneath a slide approximately 100 yards long and 30 yards wide in an area known as Power Line.
Authorities received a report of an overdue skier who had been skiing on Aspen Mountain at about 8:30 p.m. The Aspen Skiing Company mobilized 22 people who participated in the search.
The 52-year-old man was not breathing and had no pulse at the time he was found at about 9 p.m., according to a Pitkin County Sheriff's Office press release. Rescuers attempted to revive him using a defibrillator. The cause of death remains under investigation.
With a record set last ski season, 16 deaths on Colorado slopes, everyone hopes this isn't the beginning of another "record-breaking" season.
A member of the Aspen Skiing Company snowmaking crew was seriously injured late Thursday night when his snowmobile struck a tree in the Snowmass ski area, the company said. His condition was even further compromised when he was not known to be missing and was not found until early Friday morning.
Jeff Hanle, spokesman for the company, said the accident occurred on Upper Hal's Hollow, a run that is adjacent to the usual snowmobile route. Hanle said the crew member was not discovered until 7 a.m. this morning.
The employee reported early for his graveyar shift, the night shift from midnight to 8 a.m. He evidently punched in but had not yet signed the controller's log when he was asked to take a snowmobile to pick up another employee lower on the mountain, Hanle reported to The Denver Post.
While the crew member was gone, there was a full shift change and the graveyard shift controller and other crew members were unaware that a coworker was on the mountain.
When calls to his cellphone were not answered, and the controller's log was checked, the crew incorrectly assumed he did not report for work, the Aspen spokesman said.
When he was discovered, the Snowmass ski patrol immediately evacuated him and he was then transferred to Aspen Valley Hospital and finally airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction.
The terrible tragedy illustrates how quickly thing can go very wrong on the slopes, even for the most experienced.
Graham Anderson booked the ideal ski vacation, leaving his home in England to travel to the French resort of Puy St Vincent with his wife. Mr. Anderson undertook the responsible step of enrolling in ski lessons, but the lesson took a tragic turn which has left him in a wheelchair.
Mr. Anderson, crashed into a tree while skiing downhill off piste with the instructor Jerome Portejoie while on a Snowbizz holiday in 2004. As a result, the father of two is now a wheelchair-bound tetraplegic.
The Denver Post this morning published an unusual editorial regarding the early season opening of several Colorado ski areas. Obviously written by an avid skier, the opinion piece acknowledges the attraction of early November skiing but notes that the risks are not to be ignored:
No doubt, resort owners know they can make more money by opening early, as many skiers and snowboarders gladly accept the crowds for the chance to go down the few runs the snowmakers make possible. But when a resort uses its high-speed lift technology to give thousands of riders per hour the chance to descend only one or two runs, a chaotic atmosphere results.
The number of skiers who have died while skiing at Colorado resorts this year has tied the record in the state, with 16 ski-related deaths, but industry experts can't pinpoint a reason for the spike. Colorado Ski Country USA, an ski industry professional association, insists that the record number of skier deaths this season is not related to the dramatic increase in Colorado skiers this year over last.
Although the number of avalanche fatalities in the United States in the 1980's was approximately 15 annually, that number has doubled, on average, in the last five years. More people are now killed on public land by avalanches, avalanche researchers report, than by any other natural event, including lightning, fires or tornados.
Last year, the Forest Service National Avalanche Center says, 30 people were killed in avalanches in the United States and another 28 died in Canada. Half were backcountry skiers or snowboarders, most of the rest were on snowmobiles.
Last year was the second consecutive record breaker for Colorado ski resorts for skier visits, with over 12.5 million visitors during the season. Anyone who has been on the slopes recently has noticed not only the increase in the number of skiers, but also the dramatic increase in the number of helmeted skiers.
A ski industry group says skier visits to Colorado resorts dipped 12.5 percent to start the season, compared to the record numbers set in the early part of last season. But recent reports indicate that the number of skier fatalities is not slowing.
When it seems that everyone has grabbed their boards and headed for the slopes, in reality only 18% of those who venture out for the first time will return for another ski day. To keep your experience from being your last for the season, follow these safety tips: