Death at Pats Peak

[BodeMiller1]

Here we go again, a teen died on Duster (Low grade Intermediate) at Pat's Peak. The kid was from Boston.

15-year-old Boston boy dies after skiing accident at New Hampshire’s Pats Peak

A 15-year-old Boston boy died after a skiing accident at New Hampshire’s Pats Peak on Saturday, according to ski resort officials.

www.bostonherald.com

 

[pinion]

Was discussing this with friends last night. Seems to be happening more often… due to increase in people skiing? Statistics are a nasty thing sometimes.

This particular one hits home. Similar happened to me at Wildcat heading over to Lower Wildcat. My leg is broken, but could have been much worse.

 

[skiur]

I don't think it is happening more often, just getting reported more often in the age of the internet.

 

[AdironRider]

Skier deaths have been pretty consistent at .5-.9 per million visits for a pretty long time. That averages to somewhere in the upper 30s total deaths per year if memory serves.

That is a pretty small number in the grand scheme of things. You are about as statistically likely to die falling out of bed in your sleep as you are skiing (when you adjust the stats for participation).

 

[deadheadskier]

Not a lot of information about what happened. He just go off the trail and hit a tree?

So sad. RIP to the young man and peace to his family and friends.

 

[BodeMiller1]

Duster is a low angle trail lookers left of Hurricane. My guess is he caught a ski and went in the woods (blunt force trauma). But, a better guess, trail intersection collision then woods.

 

[ceo]

Duster is a low angle trail lookers left of Hurricane. My guess is he caught a ski and went in the woods (blunt force trauma). But, a better guess, trail intersection collision then woods.

Not that low angle; IIRC that group of trails is moderately steep at the top, and has a turn to the left after the steep section. I can easily see where someone could lose it and hit the woods at speed.

 

[thetrailboss]

Are there any updates as to specifics?

 

[thetrailboss]

Actually, yes. All Pats will say is that it was not a skier-skier collision.

Boston teen dies in ski accident at Pats Peak

A 15-year-old Boston student died Saturday night from a skiing accident at Pats Peak ski area in Henniker.The tenth grader was identified by his East Boston school, Excel Academy, as Christopher DiPrima. “Christopher was a kind and caring person who...

www.concordmonitor.com

 

[2Planker]

High Speed + Blunt Force Trauma. Not a good combo
Know and trained a bunch of Patrollers at Pat's over the years. Good guys for sure....

It sucks to see, especially for the first time.

 

[LuckyStrike]

Does anyone else think that ending the ranger program at Wachusett and then not replacing it with something else was a huge mistake? I'm not saying that the death there is a result of this decision but if I was a lawyer for the family of that dead skier I would be asking questions. That issue aside, the rangers would patrol the trails, check the woods and assist the grooming crews closing and opening trails. Now it's apparently the job of ski patrol? Here is Sean Sutner, writing for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, on the end of the ranger program:

Wachusett Mountain Ski Area ended its volunteer Ranger program at the start of the ski and snowboard season last month in an unexpected move that could have safety consequences on the mountain's busy slopes, at least in the short term.
The ski area apparently was forced into ending or suspending the program due to an investigation by the state attorney general's office into whether treating the Rangers as volunteers violates state labor laws.
A spokeswoman for the AG's office declined to comment on whether the office is investigating Wachusett.
The case could have national ramifications in the ski industry, where more than 600 ski areas across the country use volunteer ski patrollers under the umbrella of the nonprofit National Ski Patrol, as well as volunteers similar to Rangers.

Interestingly enough, Sutner was quoted (re: the Wachusett death) in an nbcboston.com piece https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...fety-after-two-deaths-in-new-england/3007298/

“It's just an unfortunate coincidence,” said Shaun Sutner, an avid skier and Snow Sports Correspondent for the Telegram & Gazette. “It’s not related to ski trail design, not related to the ski area. It's not even really related to the skier's skill."

I'm not saying that the local media is trying to cover one of the region's largest advertisers but it's odd that this issue isn't being brought up.

 

[2Planker]

Same story. Different Day.....

The only thing that has really changed is the addition of more Parks and younger kids getting hurt trying to "be a pro"

Fatalities, Head injuries, concussions all are pretty flat over the last 15-20 years.
Although, Helmets really do save a lot of folks from a very bad day.

 

[thetrailboss]

Does anyone else think that ending the ranger program at Wachusett and then not replacing it with something else was a huge mistake? I'm not saying that the death there is a result of this decision but if I was a lawyer for the family of that dead skier I would be asking questions. That issue aside, the rangers would patrol the trails, check the woods and assist the grooming crews closing and opening trails. Now it's apparently the job of ski patrol? Here is Sean Sutner, writing for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, on the end of the ranger program:

Interestingly enough, Sutner was quoted (re: the Wachusett death) in an nbcboston.com piece https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...fety-after-two-deaths-in-new-england/3007298/

I'm not saying that the local media is trying to cover one of the region's largest advertisers but it's odd that this issue isn't being brought up.

The skier at Wachusett lost control and hit a tree. How would having the Rangers have made any difference? Unless they were tasked with bubble wrapping every single tree, the answer is none. And even then the guy still might have died if the impact was of a high enough speed and force.

It sucks, but that is an inherent risk of skiing and riding that cannot be mitigated.

 

[Dickc]

Not a lot of information about what happened. He just go off the trail and hit a tree?

So sad. RIP to the young man and peace to his family and friends.

My understanding is this kid hit a bump, went airborne, and slammed down on his chest and had sudden cardiac arrest like the Buffalo Bills safety had. The kid just did not have a team of professionals RIGHT THERE to save his life. Really tragic.

 

[deadheadskier]

My understanding is this kid hit a bump, went airborne, and slammed down on his chest and had sudden cardiac arrest like the Buffalo Bills safety had. The kid just did not have a team of professionals RIGHT THERE to save his life. Really tragic.

Oh gosh. Any deadly ski accident is tragic, but something like that is just so unexpected. I suppose we all underestimate what blunt force trauma hitting a hard snow surface can do even if it's not a head impact.

So awful

 

[RH29]

I was at Pat's that day, and I left about 15 minutes before this happened. My last run was on Duster. It was super foggy, and right after I got to the parking lot it began to pour. The snow surface was weird to begin with - super thick granular, got much better after about an inch of snow, then worse again after some sleet. The steeps were better than the cruisers. Hard to describe, but I wouldn't think it's conducive to high-speed, out of control crashes like what you described, ESPECIALLY on Duster (it was not bumped up at all).

 

[2Planker]

My understanding is this kid hit a bump, went airborne, and slammed down on his chest and had sudden cardiac arrest like the Buffalo Bills safety had. The kid just did not have a team of professionals RIGHT THERE to save his life. Really tragic.

Exactly. An AED would have been essential with a couple professional rescuers and even then, the guy could have still passed....

 

[deadheadskier]

Exactly. An AED would have been essential with a couple professional rescuers and even then, the guy could have still passed....

Do patrollers carry AEDs on sleds or their person? Should they? They make pretty light and compact ones nowadays.

A friend of my father's died of a heart attack skiing moguls at Okemo when I was in highschool. Guy's 13 year old son was with him and watched it happen. Awful

 

[jimmck]

Does anyone else think that ending the ranger program at Wachusett and then not replacing it with something else was a huge mistake? I'm not saying that the death there is a result of this decision but if I was a lawyer for the family of that dead skier I would be asking questions. That issue aside, the rangers would patrol the trails, check the woods and assist the grooming crews closing and opening trails. Now it's apparently the job of ski patrol? Here is Sean Sutner, writing for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, on the end of the ranger program:

IF the family retained an attorney, the questioning would end pretty quickly, re: the ranger program @ Wachusett. This tragedy happened on a non-holiday Monday morning. When the ranger program was active, the rangers were not operating / staffing the mountain weekdays during daytime operations.

Having been both a ranger and a patroller @ Wachusett, I believe I can speak to the efficacy of the ranger program.

Regarding your question of "Now it's apparently the job of ski patrol?" (rangers would patrol the trails, check the woods and assist the grooming crews closing and opening trails) - Those jobs have always been, and will always be, the jobs (responsibilities) of ski patrol.

From the information I have, what happened to this gentleman was an accident - plain and simple. It's a tragedy and I feel for the man's family.

 

[LuckyStrike]

IF the family retained an attorney, the questioning would end pretty quickly, re: the ranger program @ Wachusett. This tragedy happened on a non-holiday Monday morning. When the ranger program was active, the rangers were not operating / staffing the mountain weekdays during daytime operations.

Having been both a ranger and a patroller @ Wachusett, I believe I can speak to the efficacy of the ranger program.

Regarding your question of "Now it's apparently the job of ski patrol?" (rangers would patrol the trails, check the woods and assist the grooming crews closing and opening trails) - Those jobs have always been, and will always be, the jobs (responsibilities) of ski patrol.

From the information I have, what happened to this gentleman was an accident - plain and simple. It's a tragedy and I feel for the man's family.

Thank you for the informative reply jimmck. I did not mean to assert that there was anyone to blame in this tragic accident. I realize completely that we all assume a certain level of risk when skiing/riding but I did feel that the ranger program helped to mitigate even a small amount of that risk. It's something that I would like to see return in some form.