by The Editors on January 9, 2011
After having been reported missing at Montana’s Whitefish Mountain Resort on Saturday afternoon, an unnamed 29-year-old snowboarder was found dead by patrollers. He was in a tree well, according to a story in the Whitefish Pilot.
The victim is a Flathead County resident, but his name is being withheld pending notification of family members. The man was snowboarding alone, but had gone to the resort with friends, according to the sheriff’s report. . . This is the second tree-well related death on Big Mountain in the past two weeks.
Sadly, the snowboarder (who is the 10th snowboarder to die in North America since December 20, 2010)was one of two deaths on the mountain Saturday. Another unnamed man was also found unconscious and died later at the hospital, according to a story on KRTV.com. Our thoughts are the families and friends of both men.
[Link: Whitefish Pilot and KRTV.com]
by The Editors on December 30, 2010
Shawnte Marie Willis, the 25-year-old snowboarder who had been missing from Tahoe’s Alpine Meadows since Tuesday afternoon became the eighth snowboard death in North America this holiday season when her body was found in a tree well at 9 AM this morning (December 30, 2010), according to a story on KCRA.com.
Ausnow said it appears Willis may have crashed while snowboarding. He said she may have died as a result of injuries and the freezing weather, but the coroner will make the final determination.
Our thoughts are with Willis’ family, friends, and all those who has lost loved ones this season.
[Link: KCRA.com]
by The Editors on December 29, 2010
The body of snowboarder Eli Shelby, 29, was found yesterday (Tuesday, December 28, 2010) at California’s China Peak, according to a story on KMJNow.com.
Eli Shelby, 29, was found by China Peak skiers “who saw the tip of his snowboard,” said Tim Cohee, the resort’s owner. . . “He either impacted the tree or slid backyards into the tree well,” Cohee told KMJ News, “and perhaps was suffocated by the snow.” . . Shelby was found off the Lake View run.
Shelby was reported missing at California’s China Peak Monday afternoon (December 27, 2010). He was last seen by a friend at 3:30 PM. Shelby becomes the seventh snowboard death in North America December 20, 2010. Our thoughts are with his family.
[Link: KMJNow.com]
by The Editors on December 28, 2010
According to a story from the Associated Press a 24-year-old snowboarder from San Bernardino, California died Monday, December 27, 2010 at approximately 6:06 PM after he “collided with trees.”
The San Bernardino Coroner’s Office says the accident was reported at 6:06 p.m. Monday. The 24-year-old man, who had collided with trees, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly after.
This makes six North American snowboard deaths since December 20, 2010. This really needs to stop. Our thoughts are with this snowboarder’s family and friends.
[Link: San Francisco Chronicle]
by The Editors on December 25, 2010
A missing 20-year-old snowboarder was found dead Christmas Day in a “fast flowing creek” in-bounds on Blackcomb Mountain, according to the Vancouver Sun.
It appears that the unidentified male went down a gladed run, fell into the creek and was unable to extricate himself, Whistler Pemberton RCMP Sgt. Steve LeClair said Saturday. . . The snowboarder, who was on a family vacation with his parents and other relatives, went missing late Friday afternoon. He was last seen by a cousin at about 3 p.m. near a treed section of the mountain. . . About 45 cm of snow fell overnight, further delaying the search as ski patrollers conducted avalanche control procedures before searchers could enter the area where the snowboarder was last seen, said LeClair. The man’s body was found by a dog-handler team in the creek.
The cause of death was not yet reported. This is the fifth snowboarding death at a North American resort in the past five days. Our deepest sympathies are with the snowboarder’s family.
[Update December 28, 2010: According to a story in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the snowboarder found was Cooper Plaxco. He was from Windsor, California and was a sophomore at Humboldt State University. Here’s what probably happened:
“He was down about 15 feet from the surface of the snow,” said Doug Forseth, Whistler Blackcomb resort’s senior vice president of operations. . . Forseth said the creek had been covered in a “snow bridge,” and it “probably just looked like a snow field to him — I think that’s exactly what happened.” . . Plaxco, an avid skateboarder and snowboarder, was wearing a helmet and his board was still attached to his feet when searchers found his body. He was face down with his head underwater.]
[Link: The Vancouver Sun]
by The Editors on December 23, 2010
A 15-year-old Portland snowboarder became the fourth snowboarder to die at Mt. Hood Meadows this year, according to a story on OregonLive.com.
A Portland boy, who was not identified, was discovered lying face down in the snow at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort at 9:24 p.m. on Wednesday (December 22, 2010). The lifts closed at 9 p.m. and members of the ski patrol were clearing the slopes when they discovered his body near the North Canyon trail.
The cause of his death is still unknown and reportedly being investigated by the local sheriff’s office.
[Update December 28, 2010: According to a story on KPTV.com the Medical Examiner has stated that the snowboarder who died, Illya Petrovich Sirosh, as “not killed in a snowboarding accident,” however, they are still working on finding the cause of death.]
[Link: OregonLive.com]
by The Editors on December 23, 2010
Snowboarder Christian Rea, 35, of Tuscon, Arizona died on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at Colorado’s Wolf Creek Ski Area after dropping a 40 foot cliff in the resort’s Water Fall area and landing on his head, according to a story in the Valley Courier.
Mineral County Coroner Charles Downing said the injuries from the landing resulted in his death. . . “He ruptured an artery in his neck. He hyper extended his neck backwards and ruptured the artery that goes to the brain stem, and that cut off the blood supply to the brain stem and it killed him quickly.”
Apparently, one of Rea’s friends had made the drop but told Rea and another snowboarder to go around.
“He was hollering to his other friends ‘don’t do it, go around,’ and it was too late for the young man and he skied down off of that at a pretty good speed and ended up landing on his head.”
Wolf Creek is having a rough early season. After Rea’s death on Saturday the resort was closed on Wednesday afternoon December 22, 2010 when the resort experienced another avalanche. No one was reported injured in that slide. Our thoughts are with Rea’s friends and family.
[Link: Valley Courier via KOLD.com]
by The Editors on December 20, 2010
Johua Vigeant, 31 of Pembroke, New Hampshire died while snowboarding at Cannon Mountain on Sunday December 19, 2010, according to a story in the Nashua Telegraph. Cannon General Manager John DeVivo told the paper the following:
Vigeant was snowboarding with three other friends, and one reported the emergency at 1:36 p.m. to ski patrol. DeVivo said ski patrol found one friend performing CPR on Vigeant when they arrived. Vigeant was not wearing a helmet when he was found.
Local police and ski patrol are still conducting an investigation. This is reportedly the second on-snow death at Cannon in two weeks. Our thoughts are with Vigeant’s family and friends.
[Link: Nashua Telegraph]
by The Editors on December 13, 2010
According to a new report by snow injury statistician Jasper Shealy, reported in the Wall Street Journal snowboarders may experience more injuries on the hill, but they die much less often than skiers do.
On paper, snowboarding appears to be more dangerous but less deadly. The injury rate is 50 percent to 70 percent higher than in skiing, Shealy said, which he suspects is due to the people doing it. Snowboarders tend to be young males. . . While snowboarders get injured more often, the death rate is about one-third lower than in skiing. That snowboards don’t release from the feet of the snowboarder is likely explanation, Shealy said. When a rider falls, the edge of the snowboard drags on the snow and acts like a brake. But that can also cause fractures, he said.
Last year the National Ski Areas Association say 25 skiers and 13 snowboarders died on snow. We’ll take the injuries, thank you.
[Link: The Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on April 5, 2010
A 30-year-old Whistler snowboarder was found dead face down in the snow outside the ski area boundary on Sunday according to a story on CTVBC.ctv.ca.
The Whistler resident was found face down and buried in snow in the heavily forested area known to locals as the “Khyber Pass.” . . . He was found by a group of passing skiers, who dug him out of the snow and began performing CPR around 11:30 a.m. . . . Police, ski patrol and search and rescue workers were notified, and located the victim an hour later. . . Police believe the snowboarder fell into a hole created by fallen trees and suffocated in the deep snow.
The name of the snowboarder has not yet been released.
[Link: CTVBC]
After having been reported missing at Montana’s Whitefish Mountain Resort on Saturday afternoon, an unnamed 29-year-old snowboarder was found dead by patrollers. He was in a tree well, according to a story in the Whitefish Pilot.
