Death at Cannon

[witch hobble]

I did read that it was end of day as in last run of the day.


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Not just of the day......

i was was picturing it might have happened early, before the snow softened, and being alone and 40' off trail nobody saw him.

 

[deadheadskier]

I never thought about that area needing anything. With that in mind, we could get carried away with the idea of fencing - there are trees everywhere, there re areas where a trail either to the left or right might drop off a lot past the groomed edge, there are plenty of trail splits are obviously dangerous as well.

Examples: Jester at Sugarbush after the first big turn it opens up to a drop off, someone died at a trail split at Stowe on Nosedive, Goats Run has a bad often icy corner that has drop offs. There are lots of steeper trails with turns at the bottoms that could be bad of an edge were caught. i do believe that the industry will reach a safety level where nets will be the norm for dangerous areas. When I was younger a teenager ran into a lift tower and died - back then there was no padding. Today padding around lift towers is the norm more often then not.

http://www.liski.it/allegati/referenceGSR.pdf

In the case of the "Usual spot", I was the one sent down to the Zoomer lift shack to call patrol.

I was so shaken up by the accident I actually stopped into patrol later in the day and asked if she was okay. They talked of how lucky she was and that people do fly into the woods there from time to time. I'm not sure it needs a fence, but maybe some padding on the hydrants at least.

 

[Jully]

In the case of the "Usual spot", I was the one sent down to the Zoomer lift shack to call patrol.

I was so shaken up by the accident I actually stopped into patrol later in the day and asked if she was okay. They talked of how lucky she was and that people do fly into the woods there from time to time. I'm not sure it needs a fence, but maybe some padding on the hydrants at least.

Many hydrants tend to have halves of blue barrels facing uphill. I've always wondered if those were for protection.

 

[Cannonball]

Not to get bogged down in details of tragedy, but do we know it was late in the day?

Actually, I guess we don't. I made the comment about late in the day because this article said he was "...making the last run of the day..."
http://www.telegram.com/article/20160327/NEWS/160329284

But this article says "not known when the fatal accident took place."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...on-mountain/MRXxAYRYb6L3uMLHmiXiyN/story.html

So, Abubob's point about visibility may be a consideration. Bad viz + icy conditions = tough combo.

 

[Funky_Catskills]

Always be careful on the last run of the day...
That's when most people hurt themselves..

 

[Not Sure]

Many hydrants tend to have halves of blue barrels facing uphill. I've always wondered if those were for protection.

Speaking of hydrants, How much effort does it take to fire up a few guns and resurface the danger areas? Don't have to cover the whole trail just give your guests a chance to make the turn on something edgeable!

 

[SIKSKIER]

As can be seen in that video,the corner is pretty wide and not really intimidating.Of course there was good snow in that video.2 things,it was totally clear that afternoon,zero clouds but the corners were very icy as was most of the upper mt.Just one of those things I'm sorry to say.I dont have as much of an issue with a short fence as FC does but you could point to dozens of corners on Cannon that would be as bad or worse.

 

[drjeff]

Speaking of hydrants, How much effort does it take to fire up a few guns and resurface the danger areas? Don't have to cover the whole trail just give your guests a chance to make the turn on something edgeable!

More than one often thinks.

If you've got true, classic "blue ice" than it's not just simply flip the guns on for a couple of hours and problem solved. That fresh manmade with often quickly slide off the ice patch, especially if it's on a bit of a pitch with limited skier traffic. It usually becomes a situation where they'd need to produce at least 12-18" in that area, and then push it around a bit to effectively minimize the risk in the area. Not exactly something typically done in Late March, especially when the forecast had a decent chance for some natural softening to occur

 

[Abubob]

The reason I wonder about visibility is this photo.

It looks as though the cloud starts at about the top of the Peabody Quad. The Profile chair loads below that. How much in the cloud the alleged turn is I can't say. If the accident took place early this could have been a factor but if it was late in the day then likely not.

 

[ScottySkis]

Rip condulences to his family and friends.

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[VTKilarney]

If this was Saturday, I skied at Jay when the cloud was hovering at mid-mountain. It did not affect visibility nearly as much as I thought it would.

 

[xwhaler]

The cloud layer was above the turn where this happened on Saturday so if it happened early it could have been a factor yes.
Visibility was much better in the sun up high Sat AM despite the hardpack/ice.

By 12:30 when we finished up with lunch up top it was totally clear all the way down to the base of Zoomer.

 

[zoomzoom]

i used to ski at an area that responded in a mature and reasonable manner when patrol recommended a trail be closed because it was unsafe, with icing conditions usually the trigger for closure. this was years ago, does trail assessment during ops not happen anymore? or are there marketing pressures to keep the trail counts up?

 

[SIKSKIER]

That pic is from probably mid morning.It was totally clear by noon and this accident was reportely at the end of the day.

 

[Abubob]

That pic is from probably mid morning.It was totally clear by noon and this accident was reportely at the end of the day.

Where was that reported?

This report mentions conditions at the end of the day but doesn't say anything about when Hennessy may have "left the trail". It does mention that he was skiing alone and that he wasn't reported as overdue until 9:20 PM Saturday . No time of death was established. Poor guy might truly have been laying there all day. :sad:

http://www.thelandmark.com/news/201...an_dies_in_New_Hampshire_skiing_accident.html

 

[cdskier]

Where was that reported?

This report mentions conditions at the end of the day but doesn't say anything about when Hennessy may have "left the trail". It does mention that he was skiing alone and that he wasn't reported as overdue until 9:20 PM Saturday . No time of death was established. Poor guy might truly have been laying there all day. :sad:

http://www.thelandmark.com/news/201...an_dies_in_New_Hampshire_skiing_accident.html

According to his father in this article it happened on his last run of the day:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20160327/NEWS/160329284

It doesn't specifically say it was at the end of the day, but it does seem to be the implication that it wasn't first thing in the morning.

 

[Abubob]

According to his father in this article it happened on his last run of the day:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20160327/NEWS/160329284

It doesn't specifically say it was at the end of the day, but it does seem to be the implication that it wasn't first thing in the morning.

I can't imagine how the father would know unless his son called him - and right before his last last run. Wow. Puts a whole new spin it.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Maybe I assumed it was at the end of the day because that statement by his dad.Obviously it was his last run of the day.Reguardless,I was skiing up there first thing and it was foggy but the visibility was fine.I skied Tram and Upper Cannon and had no problem seeing the terrain let alone the trees.

 

[Abubob]

Maybe I assumed it was at the end of the day because that statement by his dad.Obviously it was his last run of the day.Reguardless,I was skiing up there first thing and it was foggy but the visibility was fine.I skied Tram and Upper Cannon and had no problem seeing the terrain let alone the trees.

In that case - as already stated - it had to be fatigue. Not visibility. From this description of the man

"absolutely loved" the sport, his parents said Sunday.

I imagine he was trying to ski bell to bell.

 

[Edd]

In that case - as already stated - it had to be fatigue. Not visibility. From this description of the man I imagine he was trying to ski bell to bell.

It HAD to be fatigue? He was alone, correct? If that's the case, we're not likely to know how the accident happened.