There have been several deaths at ski areas across the region this season. But is it an unusual number?
In January, 22-year-old Skyler Ormond of Canandaigua, NY died in a snowboarding accident at the Killington Ski Resort in Vermont. He tried to avoid a friend who had fallen, but in doing so hit a tree.
On February 1st, 19-year-old Kendra Bowers of Rhode Island died when she lost control and hit a trail sign at Sugarbush ski area in Vermont.
On February 7th, 20-year-old Torin Tucker collapsed and died while competing in the UVM Winter Carnival cross country race. An undiagnosed heart condition caused his death.
On February 20th, 30-year-old Roman Plonski of Brooklyn lost control and died while skiing at Stowe.
In December, the body of 21-year-old Jennifer Strohl from Pennsylvania was found just off a ski trail at Killington after she was reported missing.
New Jersey’s Lawrence Walck, 45, died at the Stratton ski area in a sledding accident in January.
And then, on March 16th , snowboarder Austin White of Hemlock in Livingston County died at Whiteface Mountain when he ran off a trail and hit a tree.
Ski Areas of New York President Scott Brandi points out that there are inherent risks in participant activities like skiing and snowboarding. He then referred to national statistics showing winter sports among the safest, with 60 million ski visits overall nationally and about one fatality every 2 million 400 visits. Brandi adds that accidents have been decreasing. “That’s due to a lot of different things. Advancements in snowmaking technology, grooming, ski and snowboard technology, signage, information and education.”
Brandi notes there are commonalities in demographics, injuries and incidents of fatal ski accidents. “The demographic that’s most likely to have a fatal skiing or snowboarding accident is the young male between 18 and 25. Typically you have blunt force trauma and it’s typically to the upper body. How the accident occurs is typically a high speed collision with fixed objects, mostly trees.”
There has been a push over the years to get skiiers to wear helmets. Brandi says about 80 percent of skiiers and snowboarders under 17 and 90 percent of children under 9 do wear helmets. Of the fatalities listed, White and Strohl were not wearing a helmet, Plonski and Bowers were. Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus of Engineering Dr. Jasper Shealy has been researching snow sports injuries. “The wearing of helmets doesn’t seem to have affected the rate of fatalities. Although it is affecting the rate of head injuries. It’s not that helmets don’t matter, but above a certain impact, it’s going to take more than a helmet to make much of a difference.”
Dr. Shealy has also found that the accident rate for snowboarders is two times greater than skiing. But skiiers are more likely to die than snowboarders. “Snowboarders are less likely to collide with things than are skiiers. The snowboard is anchored to both feet. So if you fall the snowboard is going to slow you down, whereas with skis once you fall, skis don’t slow you down very much.”
Dr. Shealy notes that there are annual fluctuations in the number of skiier deaths and says this year may be a normal statistical cluster.
