Death at Crystal?

Indiana man dies while snowboarding at Crystal Mountain
March 6, 2005, 11:46 PM


THOMPSONVILLE, Mich. (AP) -- A 21-year-old snowboarder died after he lost control while attempting a jump at Crystal Mountain resort and hit the ground, the Benzie County sheriff's department says.

Joas L. Miller of Shipshewana, Ind., was pronounced dead at the scene about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the sheriff's department said. The death remained under investigation Sunday by the medical examiner and other authorities.

'The ski patrol went up there and tried to revive him but he didn't respond,' said resort president and general manager Jim MacInnes. 'It's just a sad thing for a young man. Our heart goes out to his family.'

This was the first fatal skiing or snowboarding accident in the 49-year history of Crystal Mountain, according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

The resort is located in the northern Lower Peninsula about 30 miles southwest of Traverse City.


Save Sugar Loaf! It's our resort, not just real estate.

yes everyone wear a helmet please. i have a close friend and cusin who isnt going to be able to ski/snowboard for the rest of his life due to a head injury last summer.
remember midwest=ice and ice=pain

yeah death is no fun. i hope they don't make thier park even more shitty due to this because of insurance and stuff.
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chill

i almost predicted this would happen . crystal enhanced their terrain park formerly known as rider zone into the new and improved 'super park' this year. the shitty thing is, because they widened the terrain park, it closed off the run next to the park, thus, crystal directed all the 'public flow of traffic' through the terrain park(people anywhere from 8 year olds to elderly 75 year olds were skiing through the crowded park. something that should not have happened)

also

crystals jumps were terrible. last time i was there the take off's of the jumps were very long and very wide, giving the perception you were hitting a large jump, but once you hit it you realized different, there was no landing at all. big lip and no landing.

dangerous... which is weird because prior to this year, crystal had a very solid terrain park with quite descent sized and maintained jumps.

it is sad though. wear your helmet...


All I want to do is partake actively within the process of genius work known as FARP

yeah man, I was up there last weekend and the jumps sucked. all long and shit it was like a boardercross course or something, soo long and the landings were soo long and flat, not good at all I am going up there tomorrow again for an end of the season bash and it better be good with taller jumps and better sculpted lips and landings. DAMMIT

Progression is Everything -Jason Levinthal

some drunk guys died there a long time ago when they took a toboggan down Buck and hit a tree.


'word up motha bitches'

No matter what you do sometimes tragic things just happen. There are times, however that steps can be taken so that hopefully something like this won't happen again.

1. Taking jumps and spinning in the air can be dangerous. You have to wear a helmet. After all we only get one skull.
2. Know your limits. I have been to enough terrain parks to watch guys do things that are beyond their limits. The problem is that these guys watch the experienced pros and/or regular competitors and think 'that looks easy, I can do that.' What they fail to realize is that these guys spend a lot of time practicing to perfect their tricks. Thats why and how they can make them look so easy and effortless.
3. If ski resorts are going to provide terrain parks for their guests then they must train their groomers to build safe and manageble jumps. They must also maintain and inspect these jumps on a regular basis. We all know that a jump can be safe in the morning and be dangerous as hell in the afternoon. Either fix the jump or shut it down.

This is a great sport and I hope that ski resorts won't take a 'knee-jerk' reaction and shut things down or make it so lame that they take away the excitment of the sport. Everybody use common sense and know what you are capable of doing. Condolences to the kids family.