Skier dies at Jackson Hole

[dlague]

With all the snow falling tree wells can get scary. Sad to hear of such a young person going that way. 2nd death there this season.

RIP Kelsey

http://www.tetongravity.com/story/ski/breaking-skier-dies-at-jackson-hole-moutain-resort

 

[billski]

kinda early in the season, but I suppose it could happen anytime.

 

[goldsbar]

That sucks. I still don't get the tree well thing, I've been to Jackson (multiple times), Alta/Bird (multiple), Park City areas, Solitude, Telluride, Whistler, Steamboat, Big Sky - never saw one tree well!

 

[dlague]

kinda early in the season, but I suppose it could happen anytime.

Not early there, they have been slammed with snow and tree wells are well formed at this point.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[crank]

That sucks. I still don't get the tree well thing, I've been to Jackson (multiple times), Alta/Bird (multiple), Park City areas, Solitude, Telluride, Whistler, Steamboat, Big Sky - never saw one tree well!

Uhm...

 

[RichT]

You don't "see them" till its to late!

http://www.deepsnowsafety.org/index.php

 

[1Kathleen]

Wow, scary stuff. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[Lefty4514]

Wow, scary stuff. Thanks for posting the link.

Agreed, thanks for posting. It's kind of sad that I've been skiing all my life and am so poorly educated on the topic. I'll be spreading the word to my other skier friends.

 

[ironhippy]

It's not something you see a lot of on the east coast, but they do exist.

One of my friends was skiing at a resort in the Gaspee when he smelt something funny. He looked around and found some kids smoking pot in a big tree well.

 

[goldsbar]

Great link!

 

[dlague]

Problem with tree wells is when someone falls in them head down and the snow in them is very fine. Hell of a way to go. One of the primary reasons you ski in pairs if off trail! One of my sons had to pull another one of my sons out of one at Jay Peak so they do exist in the east during dry heavy snowfall times.

 

[Brewbeer]

Years ago I fell into a tree well at MRG. There was a ton of snow and the well was at least 4 feet deep. Like described above, I ended up upsidedown and unable to right myself until after I took my skis off. It was a ton of effort to get out and I was exhausted after I did.

 

[crank]

A very experienced skier died in one at Whitefish the week after we were there. It was an area where there were tree shots maybe 50 yards wide between trails. We skied those trees quite a bit the previous week. I am super careful about keeping everybody close and in touch with frequent stops in the trees since then. We always wear whistles as well.

 

[Scruffy]

Tree wells are the silent killer of skiing. Avalanches get all the press. Another one is SIS in non-tree well incidents, while rare it does happen. A few years ago, a good skier at JH, skiing alone, hit something under snow with skis, went head over into a deep pocket of pow, not a tree around, they found him skis up and dead. You don't have to go very far off piste to get into trouble with a tree well, they can lurk just off the groomer track.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i spoke to a brighton patroller today who was skiing with jackson patrol and responded to this scene. he said he gave her cpr. fyi, according to this guy, and i dont know why he would lie, it was not a tree well. she was skiing fast and caught an edge and went head first into a tree. he described the deceased as a 25 year old female snowboarder.

 

[BenedictGomez]

One of my friends was skiing at a resort in the Gaspee when he smelt something funny. He looked around and found some kids smoking pot in a big tree well.

Huh?

 

[ironhippy]

Huh?

they had dug down to get under a big tree in deep snow making a nice little snow fort

probably not a tree well you would have gotten killed in because it was so big, but a tree well non the less.