9 replies to this topic

[Skiing#1]

http://www.ksl.com/?...3817470&nid=148

New Jersey skier hits tree, dies in Park City


PARK CITY — A 67-year-old man from New Jersey was killed Monday after hitting a tree while skiing at Park City Mountain Resort.

William Kivet was skiing with a friend and making his first run of the day about 10:30 a.m., said Park City Police Sgt. Darwin Little. The two were on an expert black diamond run and going down the hill at a "moderate" pace, when witnesses said the victim appeared to lose control near the bottom.

Kivet went off the main run and hit a tree. Police say that he was unconscious and not breathing when the Ski Patrol arrived.

"They worked on him on the mountain, unable to resuscitate him there, took him down to base patrol continued to work on him at base patrol, called life flight in, unfortunately canceled life flight before they arrived because he was pronounced dead prior to that," said Park City Police Department Captain, Rick Ryan.

Park City police say Kivet was not wearing a helmet when he was skiing yesterday. His friend told police that he was an intermediate skier, and it didn't appear that he lost control before leaving the groomed run.

Police say they have one or two deaths from skiing accidents each year. They say is a reminder to ski and snowboard within your ability and to also wear the proper protective gear.

This post has been edited by Skiing#1: 25 January 2013 - 10:59 AM

[liftmech]

I think 'skiing and snowboarding within your abilities' is far more important than 'wearing the proper protective gear'. I've been on far too many fatalities where gear makes no difference. $0.02

[DonaldMReif]

liftmech, on 27 January 2013 - 06:20 PM, said:

I think 'skiing and snowboarding within your abilities' is far more important than 'wearing the proper protective gear'. I've been on far too many fatalities where gear makes no difference. $0.02

Well said. An intermediate does NOT belong on a black run, whether or not that run is groomed. Also, as sad as these types of incidents are, they could easily be prevented if people would learn to reduce their speed.

I tend to be somewhat startled when I see 9News stories about skiing accidents at resorts I've skied at, and am a little rattled when noticing that the trail the incident happened on is a trail that I myself have skied down multiple times without ever having trouble:

Here's one that happened last week on Last Alamo at Keystone: http://www.9news.com...?storyid=311245. Thankfully, it was just an injured person.

Here's one that happened at the beginning of January, on Frenchman, on Dercum Mountain: http://www.9news.com...?storyid=309606

I've skied both of those trails and never had an accident before.

And this one happened recently at Copper Mountain on Vein Glory, a green run, with a guy who wasn't wearing a helmet: http://www.9news.com...?storyid=308564

But like you said liftmech, I think a lot of skier fatalities would be prevented if people just stayed within their terrain abilities. My max is groomed black runs, and I never venture anything more difficult than that. Getting people to reduce their speed is also necessary, because if a fatality happens on Springmeier or Bonanza, slow runs, something's wrong.

[Aussierob]

We've lost two in the last couple of weeks. One guy fell off a cliff and the other slid into a tree while hiking down a steep section he couldn't ski.

[floridaskier]

The Silver King run at Park City is one of their "Signature Runs," which means a black run that they groom every few weeks and advertise. I guess the idea is to open up terrain like that to intermediate skiers can take a stab at a steeper run. It's very steep at the top so you can get up a good head of steam there, and it's usually in the shade so it would stay slick. A few weeks ago they had a experts only thin cover gate up at the top of this area, and they hadn't had much snow since. Sad to see anyone getting hurt out there

[DonaldMReif]

This one happened today at Keystone (http://www.9news.com...er-hitting-tree):

Quote

KUSA- A 27-year-old skier died Friday after hitting a tree at Keystone Ski Resort.
According to the Summit County coroner Arthur Glaz collided with a tree on an intermediate trail called Porcupine. His death has been ruled an accident. Glaz, who is from New Mexico, was wearing a helmet.

I've been down that run. It's a normally groomed blue run in the Outback.

Since he was wearing a helmet, I have to agree with what you said, liftmech, when you said "I think 'skiing and snowboarding within your abilities' is far more important than 'wearing the proper protective gear'. I've been on far too many fatalities where gear made no difference." The guy was wearing a helmet.

[DonaldMReif]

This one happened yesterday at Snowmass: http://www.9news.com...Snowmass-resort

Quote

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - Aspen Skiing Co. says a skier has died after hitting a tree at the Snowmass ski area.
Company officials say the 42-year-old man was unconscious and unresponsive when ski patrol arrived at the scene Friday morning. He was taken to the base of the ski area, where he was pronounced dead.
The skier was wearing a helmet. His name wasn't immediately released. Officials say he was at Snowmass to compete in the NASTAR National Championships this weekend, but he wasn't on the course at the time of the accident.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[towertop]

liftmech, on 27 January 2013 - 06:20 PM, said:

I think 'skiing and snowboarding within your abilities' is far more important than 'wearing the proper protective gear'. I've been on far too many fatalities where gear makes no difference. $0.02

Amen...

[DonaldMReif]

towertop, on 23 March 2013 - 02:48 PM, said:

Amen...

So true with the one I just posted.

[2milehi]

I rode up on our gondola last week and I was listening to three of our guests talking about skiing in the trees. One of the guests said that she did not have a helmet so she wouldn't go tree skiing. This comment goes along with the misconception that a helmet is an impenetrable full body shield. The way helmets have been portrayed over the last +5 years is that your are safe once you are wearing one.

This post has been edited by 2milehi: 24 March 2013 - 05:14 PM