Weird death at a Washington State Ski Area

[snorovr]

See link below, article follows:

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014090040_crystaldeath01m.html

 

 

Kitsap County skier dies after Crystal Mountain accident

 

A man from Olalla, Kitsap County, has died from injuries suffered in a skiing accident at Crystal Mountain.

 

By Craig Welch

Seattle Times staff reporter

 

An Olalla, Kitsap County, man injured in a ski accident at Crystal Mountain ski resort died Friday, two days after taking a spill at the mountain's terrain park.

Don Burkhart, 67, was skiing with his wife and another family member early Wednesday when he hit a terrain-park feature where the ground drops away mildly. He fell and suffered a spinal-cord injury and was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he later died.

 

"It looks like he didn't intend to go off this roll, and it caught him by surprise," said Paul Baugher, Crystal's ski-patrol director. "It was enough of a surprise that he wasn't able to react and land adequately."

Baugher said another ski patroller happened to be right behind him, picking up garbage after a morning sweep of the terrain park. The patroller didn't see the accident, but heard shouts from the chairlift and arrived within 30 seconds of Burkhart's fall.

Burkhart wasn't breathing, but the ski patroller opened his airway and performed CPR, which kept him alive until he could be taken to the hospital.

The News Tribune of Tacoma reported that Burkhart suffered a spinal-cord injury that immediately paralyzed him from the jaw down.

 

Burkhart was a season pass-holder, a skier who had been a regular at Crystal for more than a decade.

Baugher wasn't on duty at the time of the accident but recognized Burkhart's photograph. It brought home for him how small Crystal's ski-community can be.

"We're all incredibly sad up here," Baugher said. "It's just horrible."

 

He said visibility and the snowpack were good that day, but it's impossible to know how morning light might have impacted Burkhart.

Burkhart had to go through a gate and pass a sign to enter the terrain park, so he wasn't there by mistake. There's no evidence that he attempted any of the more serious features of the terrain park.

Baugher said the accident was a reminder how easily people can get hurt.

 

"This was something people thought was very benign," he said. "But if somebody doesn't expect something, they can get hurt. It doesn't take much. And it happens very, very quickly."

 

Baugher said it has been almost a decade since a skier died in a ski-related accident inside designated Crystal Mountain boundaries. The last death was eight years ago, when a skier suffocated after falling in a tree well.

Edited February 1, 2011 by T*Maki

[Kyle]

hmm, thats interesting. a spinal cord injury causing death?

[snorovr]

hmm, thats interesting. a spinal cord injury causing death?

 

That kinda made me wonder at first too...

 

With that kind of major trauma there are many other things that could have happened on the slopes/in transit/shortly after arrival to the hospital. The article notes he was initially not breathing, dude was basically on borrowed time from that point on. Sounds like a pretty serious injury on a relatively benign feature. Would definitely be interesting to have all the details.

[Kyle]

That kinda made me wonder at first too...

 

With that kind of major trauma there are many other things that could have happened on the slopes/in transit/shortly after arrival to the hospital. The article notes he was initially not breathing, dude was basically on borrowed time from that point on. Sounds like a pretty serious injury on a relatively benign feature. Would definitely be interesting to have all the details.

 

my guess would be he had a heart attack/stroke and that caused it. probably too early to tell until there's an autopsy but thats just my guess.