Deaths of 5 Skiers Stun Mammoth...

**skiing-in-jackson** · 02-06-2006, 07:47 PM

Yikes...when it rains it pours (snows?)...

I trust this didn't affect the mag community there...

Deaths of 5 Skiers Stun Mammoth
# In the span of a week, three skiing accidents, a heart attack and an avalanche claimed the lives of four visitors and a ski patrol veteran.

By Amanda Covarrubias, Rong-Gong Lin II and Tanya Caldwell, Times Staff Writers

MAMMOTH LAKES — The deaths of five skiers over a recent seven-day period on or near Mammoth Mountain appear to have been tragic accidents but have shaken this hamlet of outdoor enthusiasts.

One victim was a Los Angeles dentist and avid outdoorsman, another a retired water deliveryman from Garden Grove, the third a San Diego teenager and the fourth a marketing representative from Laguna Niguel. The fifth was an accomplished ski patrol member traversing the Eastern Sierra's breathtaking backcountry.

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Three skiing accidents and a heart attack on Mammoth Mountain on four consecutive days resulted in four of the deaths. On the seventh day, the fifth victim, an eight-year veteran of the resort's ski patrol, was killed in an avalanche 55 miles north of the famed winter playground.

"By the second day, we were all looking around saying, 'Wow,' " said Mammoth Mountain spokeswoman Joani Lynch. "And by the fourth day, it was unbelievable."

Locals and tourists are still trying to absorb the enormousness of the tragedy that befell the mountain community five hours north of Los Angeles, a snow sports destination that draws 1 million visitors a year from Southern California and beyond. In a normal season, three people die in accidents or from natural causes at the resort. Last season, only two people died.

Known for its majestic vistas, pristine lakes and rugged, backcountry trails, Mammoth is an outdoor enthusiast's dream, where many go to escape the crime and crowds of more urban areas.

Over at Canyon Lodge, at the base of the mountain, customers Sunday morning said they would be more cautious on the slopes.

"Maybe I won't do the intermediate runs this trip," said Lynn Ablian, 29, a registered nurse from Anaheim who was snowboarding for the fifth time.

Her friend, Victoria Perez, 29, a registered nurse from Buena Park, said the accidents were making her consider buying a helmet.

"If I'm not comfortable," Perez said, "I'm not going to push it and go forward too hard."

At Ski Renter, a ski shop in the heart of Mammoth Lakes Village, technician Mike Wright said he had seen a run in helmet rentals among people who had heard about the deaths.

"People are a little more concerned," Wright said.

His colleague Austin Wise, who repairs skis, added: "It's just so many people died in a short amount of time. It's pretty scary."

The deaths underscore that skiing and snowboarding are inherently risky sports. During the 2003-04 season, according to the National Ski Areas Assn., 41 people died in skiing or snowboarding accidents nationwide.

The Mammoth deaths were unrelated to each other, officials said, adding that staff members who work on the slopes took the deaths particularly hard, especially that of ski patroller Sara Johanna Carlsson, 31, a native of Sweden. Some employees talked to a counselor provided by Mammoth management and others took time off work to grieve.

Online forums on Mammoth's website were abuzz over the weekend with ski enthusiasts' incredulity at what unfolded from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. Posters traded information, and some tried to figure out how they could avoid similar fates.

"It's helpful to know what happened, to … warn ourselves and others and … to end the rumors/speculation that inevitably follows," one person wrote.

"R.I.P., mountain friends, your souls can rest in a beautiful place," another wrote.

So many deaths in such a short time "certainly gives us pause to reflect on whether or not something was wrong," said Gary Reitman, general manager for mountain operations. "But in reviewing all these accounts, it was made very clear that none of them had [anything] to do with the others."

The string of deaths began Jan. 26, when 16-year-old Benjamin Trees was skiing with a group of friends on an intermediate run. He took a jump too fast and missed the roughly 25-foot-wide landing, officials said.