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Skier Dies at Mount Wachusett

Sky

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Wow! Terrible news. If the two cops were worth their salt...you've got to figure the guy had as good a chance of surviving as you can get, given the circumstances.

Condolences to the family and friends. :<
 

LVNLARG

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That does suck :( It however reminds me of the DIN arguments and how I felt it's usually a lot better to keep your skis on than to be walking out of them at the hint of trouble if you're at all skilled.... :eek:
 

tirolerpeter

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Stepping out of skis.

I am nearly 60 years old, 5'7" tall, weigh 165lbs and in excellent physical condition. Despite my age, I ski very aggressively and often very fast when I am with younger skiers. I always have a problem with getting my DIN settings up to the level that I feel comfortable with. Techs in my ski shop claim that they can not "legally" crank my settings past 5 regardless of my being a "Type III" skier because I am over 50 years old. That scares me. I have to argue with them to get them to give me at least a 7. I find it especially nerve wracking when I am on icy steeps that are somewhat bumped up or rutted. Is there really such a "rule" about skiers over 50? I do not want to "step out" of my skis and end up hugging a tree. I have also found that the most violent maneuvers actually occur at times that involve avoiding another skier that has unexpectedly crossed your path. That is precisely the moment that I wouldn't want to lose a ski.
 

Zand

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Sad indeed. The one reason why a lot of people are injured and die there is due to the fact most people who ski there ski fast. It's just what happens on wide, groomed runs. Whether this was a case of speed or not is currently unknown, but he had to have been going pretty quick to lose a ski just by turning and then end up in the woods without time to fall down beforehand. This is the second time in 2 years a person has been killed on that very trail. It's unfortunate and further damages Wa's rep.
 

teachski

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I was at the mountain. I saw the man being brought to the patrol room. A patroller was straddleing him administering CPR as the toboggan was pulled down the hill. From my distance of 50+ feet from the sled I could see it had been a horrific accident. There was definate head trauma.

The patrollers, and no doubt the policemen that were skiing behind him when the accident occurred, were making every effort to revive him. If you saw what I saw you would know that they gave 110% if not more to try to revive him.
 

MichaelJ

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I got there shortly after 5pm tonight, and saw the emergency vehicles, rescue crews, etc. It didn't look good, but all I heard at the time was that a skier had gone into the trees on 10th Mountain; I didn't know where and it wasn't obvious from the lift. Since it happened at 3:00 I assume they groomed after the accident. Plus, the trail was closed off until around 7:00 or so. It wasn't until I got home tonight that I knew it was a death.

Boston.com had a few more details.
 

Zand

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That article pretty much echoes what I said. I almost ran into someone in that very same spot doing the very same thing. I was able to move out of the way with a quick stop, but if I screwed up stopping there, I would've hit the kid. I believe the kid was actually standing there and not moving. It was a blind spot. Fortunately, my ski didn't pop off and I was able to stop.
 

thetrailboss

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I only have one thing to say:

ski-safety.GIF
 

goldsbar

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Re: Stepping out of skis.

tirolerpeter said:
I am nearly 60 years old, 5'7" tall, weigh 165lbs and in excellent physical condition. ... I have to argue with them to get them to give me at least a 7...I do not want to "step out" of my skis and end up hugging a tree.

I'm 15 lbs less and a lot younger :wink: and I go with 8. I tried ~6 but my skis were popping off on minor 3 ft drops and bumpy traverses. Putting you at 5 is ridiculous.

I find skiing the sides of the trails and fast long radius turns (i.e. where your essentially headed straight for the woods at the end of every turn) to be the most dangerous. Unfortunately, it's also the most fun form of skiing on groomers.
 

hammer

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Brettski said:
I think I'll wear my helmet more often...do I hear an echo?
You have a good point, but I'd suggest that we AVOID any helmet discussions here...this kind of argument happens all the time when a death is reported.

It does seem like I hear of at least one death at Wachusett each season...it may be because it's such a popular place, but who knows...
 

Phildozer

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I think Wachusett has these incidents for two reasons:

- They consistantly have 200,000+ skier visits each year. Lots of people = lots of chances for accidents

- Wachusett draws a lot of kids & new skiers. That, coupled with lots of people means the chances of serious accidents is greater.
 

Robbski

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This is a sad thing indeed.

I just wanted to add that this reminds me how important binding maintenance is. The binding issue could involve a lot of things beyond improper DIN adjustment such as poor, outdated or badly maintained equipment or even snow on his boots (although that's hard to believe given recent conditions).
 

tree_skier

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Why the assumption that the din setting was an issue. I skied for about three years with a din setting too light 8.5 vs. a current 10.5 without any prerelease issue's (ok i gained a little weight). It has been many years since I have experienced a pre release. From my experience with new equipement most people who think they had a pre release are on they way down anyway and the gear is working the way it is supposed to.
 

Marc

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tree_skier said:
Why the assumption that the din setting was an issue. I skied for about three years with a din setting too light 8.5 vs. a current 10.5 without any prerelease issue's (ok i gained a little weight). It has been many years since I have experienced a pre release. From my experience with new equipement most people who think they had a pre release are on they way down anyway and the gear is working the way it is supposed to.

Depends on the skier and how badly they need an excuse for how they fell.

My Volkls were set at 5 last time I was at Wa. I foolishly did not check the setting after I got back from the shop. They should be a 7 or 8 for me. I was on Smtih and made a hard turn and lost a ski. I know that was the reason for my fall because I didn't immediately and attempted to stop on one ski. Didn't work well. I ended up falling anyway.


As for the death, it does seem like there's one almost every year there and it doesn't surprise me all that much. I see the average skill level and judgement level in the skiers there and I think at one death a year they are fortunate it is that low.
 

goldsbar

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tree_skier said:
From my experience with new equipement most people who think they had a pre release are on they way down anyway and the gear is working the way it is supposed to.

Disagree. I've had plenty of skis pop while experimenting with lower DINs where I was able to still keep skiing - at least temporarily - on the other ski. Low DINs work great on groomers even when making high G carved turns but pre release is a much more common problem in bumps or in any off-piste type of conditions.
 

hammer

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Marc said:
As for the death, it does seem like there's one almost every year there and it doesn't surprise me all that much. I see the average skill level and judgement level in the skiers there and I think at one death a year they are fortunate it is that low.
Speaking of skill and judgement level, is there a level in skiing/riding that people go through where they are just good enough to get complacent?

Back in the days when I actually used my pilot's license, I remember hearing that more accidents happened to moderately experienced pilots -- ones who would get complacent because they had the skills, take risks they shouldn't, and then get into trouble...
 
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