Another death on the mountain

[SueNJ]

I just read in our local paper that a 33-year-old from a neighboring town in NJ died at Breckenridge yesterday while snowboarding. Apparently he landed badly from a jump and broke his neck. The ski patrol folks administered life support, but he was declared dead when he reached the hospital.

The snowboarder was a doctor who specialized in sports medicine and rehabilitation, and was working at a hospital in Kansas toward opening (oddly enough) a spinal injury clinic.

Very sad! :(

 

[num]

Very sad indeed :( My heart goes out to his loved ones.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

It's the leading story in Summit Daily News (CO). (was yesterday) Incredibly sad.....:( ....

 

[climber.girl1]

How very sad. :( I think it's sobering (and important) to remember the risk inherent in the sport we love. My thoughts are with his family....

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Some bad karma out there lately.....39 year old hiker, very experienced, died in an avalanche on Mt Washington (NH) the other day, in Huntington Ravine.

 

[Pequenita]

Ugh - got an email this morning from my college roommate. Jim McLean (post #1) was a med school friend of hers that she snowboarded with.

 

[num]

Does it just seem like it, or have there been more snowsports tragedies than usual so far this season?

I hope the families and friends are coping well.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Let's hope nothing happens during the fast-approaching X Games---some of that moto cross stuff just blows me away - did anyone see the summer x games where the skateboarder lost his board in big air and came down 40 feet---onto HIS feet????

This last group of fatalities came so close together....with the snow being like it is in the west, I greatly fear that more avalanches are in the cards....

 

[SueNJ]

Ugh - got an email this morning from my college roommate. Jim McLean (post #1) was a med school friend of hers that she snowboarded with.

Wow, that brings it even more closer to home, doesn't it? It has to be so rough on family and friends to have to face losing someone so young and vibrant.

 

[Pequenita]

I feel bad because I was flippant in my response to her message. I didn't realize that she knew the guy when she sent me the email - it was more of a "Gosh this is horrible, I'm never going off big jumps again" type of email, to which I responded with news of Billy Poole's death and a high school acquaintance who had become a quadripelgic after landing wrong on a jump 4 years ago.

I can't imagine how friends and family must be feeling.