WA Skier Dies...Resort is Blamed

Today a 19 year old skier died overshooting a table top at my local ski area The Summit at Snoqualmie (as seen on the front page). A friend who was there told me that he dropped into the first table in the park from a point that is about 200 feet higher than the normal drop in for the 25 foot table. Granted it is hard to managed speed for this thing as the inrun is steep and then flat, it is easy to see that where this skier dropped in from is way to high. The news report that came on at 11pm tonight took the stand point of pretty much blaming the ski area for the incident, which made me sick. They interviewed the first witness on the scene who criticized the mountain for having jumps in the first place as they are such a hazard. After that winner they interviewed a white trash, no teeth snowboarder, who talked about how he had never even seen a skier in the park. If you had seen a picture of this guy you would know that his point of view is probably not the best regarding the day to day of the ski area. They also continued on talkig about how skilled the skier was, how he was on the Central Washington University XC Ski Team and a certified ski intsructor...we all know that doesnt mean shit...my little sister could be a certified ski instructor and on an XC ski team and she doesnt even exist and never will. It comes down to poor judgemnt of the skier. In no way is it the mountains fault, especially when it is posted all over the mountain (first thing in the terrain park) and all over the lodges to 'use your head.' Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible that this guy died, I have probably seen him on the hill. I am just disgusted the way the media portrayed this whole thing...and this isn't some small town television station...it is broadcast all over the pacific northwest including british columbia. it sucks because it will more than likely come down to a law suit and we will probably loose our terrain park as funding for it will be the first to go to the family of the deceased. The following is an email i just wrote to KIRO 7 who reported the event. It pretty much restates what I said. Read it if you want. I don't know what puropse this really serves...jus to let you know what happened I guess. Anyhow, sorry to rant and RIP to the guy who died...i guess from accounts he did a fucking gigantic three off the thing...JUST USE YOUR HEAD PLEASE! FOR THE GOOD OF YOURSELVES AND FOR THE FUTURE OF TERRAIN PARKS BE SMART!

Here's the email:

Earlier this afternoon I was saddened to hear from a friend that a fellow skier died while attempting a jump at the Summit Central terrain park on Snoqualmie Pass. I turned on the news immediately and eventually saw a breaking news story on one of the many local channels confirming what my friend had told me, but still I did not have any details. Just minutes ago I finally got the whole story on your “Eleven at Eleven” feature. I must say that I am outraged at you completely ignorant and disgusting report on the whole situation. I understand that there is a very good chance that not one person in the entire KIRO 7 newsroom has any clue as to what skiing is today, but I still find it outraging that you would portray this perception of my sport like this for all to see. I do not doubt the deceased abilities, but what I do know is that what he was doing was not a proper use of judgment. From what I have been told by knowledgeable peers at the mountain the individual started his in-run to the jump around two hundred feet above the normal point where skiers and snowboards start from, which gives them more than ample air to clear the jump. Your report made it seem as if it was the resorts fault for this incident, but it was clearly poor judgment on the skier’s part. You talked him up to being a very skilled skier, being on the Central XC ski team and a certified ski instructor, but none of that crossed over to common sense in the terrain park. There are many signs stating the risk of the terrain park and it is advertised all over the mountain, in the terrain park and out, to use good judgment on the hill, signs which this skier ignored. I apologize for not remembering the witness’ name, but I will be the first to point out that this man is more ignorant than yourselves with this situation. He commented on how large the jump is and how it shouldn’t be there in the first place as it is an obvious risk, because people get hurt. First off, I would like to mention that the jump that the victim went off, if done properly, is around 25 feet from takeoff to landing, which is not that big if you put it into perspective. For reference, Stevens Pass has a similar jump, which is 60 feet, and to top it off Mammoth Mountain in California boasts a jump that averages at 90 feet from take off to landing. Also there is a risk with any method of snow riding be it in the terrain park or just going down a fairly moderate groomed slope, things happed and people get hurt and sometimes die. Once again, it is all over the mountain to use good judgment, yes, the mountain is volatile and unpredictable, but many aspects are under the skier/snowboarder’s control. You also showed a clip of a “snowboarder” who was stated that he had never seen skiers in the terrain park amongst other things. Good job there guys, last time I checked there is often an equal ratio of skiers to boarders in the terrain park at any given point in time. I am incredibly disappointed in your portrayal of this event, in fact I am sickened. The entire broadcast was falsehood after falsehood. Yes, somebody died and it is a terrible thing, but it is not the mountain’s fault that this happened, it is the skiers. Your coverage of the whole situation did nothing but show The Summit at Snoqualmie at fault, which couldn’t be farther than the truth. I know this situation all too well as last December I lacerated my liver sliding a rail on my skis at Stevens Pass. Was it the mountain’s fault? No. I knew the risks of what I was doing and I took them and unfortunately something went very wrong. The difference between the victim and myself is that I knew what I was doing. I am a sponsored skier and hope to turn pro in the next couple of years. Skiing is second nature to me, but that doesn’t mean that there are no risks. I wouldn’t ski if there were no risks, it would be no fun to me. There are many times on the mountain were you have to push yourself to progress and often times these situations happen in the terrain park as that is the new direction of skiing, something you guys obviously know nothing about. Unfortunately, it is more than likely that lawsuits will arise from this situation and as it has happened in the past, The Summit at Snoqualmie will probably loose and owe the family of the deceased possibly millions of dollars. Do you know what this means? The terrain parks, which cost thousands of dollars to maintain will disappear, and with the terrain parks gone so will the many events which take place every year where skiers such as myself make a name for them selves. Media coverage such as yours more than likely helps fuel such ignorance and leaves skiers like me without a terrain park to ski in. If a basketball player is on a break away and goes for a lay up, but upon landing back on the court breaks his ankle is the court to blame? If you answer is yes, I feel sorry for you. How could basketball players play if all the courts are demolished because this player sued and won? While skiing may not be important to you, it is extremely so to others, such as myself. I know that you have no idea what skiing is anymore and expect you to see it is a vacation activity that families do once a year, but if you opened your eyes you would see that it is much more. The following are some links to major skiing publications that can help open your eyes into the world of skiing in hopes that maybe next time you guys will do a responsible job and portray more than one side of the situation as journalists should do, but now days seem to forget.
www.freezeonline.com
www.powdermag.com
www.freeskier.com



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