keep your friends in site reason # 914

[Woodsy]

scary stuff,
I know a lot of us have skiied the box.
.

"Man killed skiing in Aspen backcountry
By Troy Hooper/Aspen Daily News Staff Writer



A man was killed while skiing in Aspen's backcountry Saturday and authorities had not determined his cause of death by nightfall.

The skier was found dead in a tree well - a hollow area that forms as snow gathers at the base of a tree - and it wasn't clear whether he had died from a collision with the tree or from suffocating in the heavy snow.

The death occurred at about 2:45 p.m. in the trees of Pandora's Basin, a popular out-of-bounds area accessible through a backcountry access gate on Aspen Mountain. The man's name, age and hometown were not released.

"He was skiing with a friend and the friend was in front of him and heard the victim fall," Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Jim Hearn said. "The friend yelled for him and when he didn't hear a response, he took his skis off and wallowed through the big snow to the last point where he was seen, and he found him facedown with his feet sticking out of a tree well."

Hearn said the friend dug the skier out after about five minutes, performed CPR and then went for help when he couldn't resuscitate him. Ski patrollers responded and also could not revive the man.

With more than 17 inches of new snow on Aspen Mountain, Hearn said it is possible the skier fell and simply couldn't get back up.

"It's been a stable but weak snowpack and then you add all this (new snow) on top of it and there's not a lot of cohesion. There's nothing to push against when you go down in it," Hearn said. "It's an unfortunate reminder that unstable snow - whether it's in large or small pockets or even just a tree well - deserves everyone's attention."

The cause of death was under investigation by the county coroner, who had not ruled out the possibility that impact with the tree had caused the death. "We won't know until a postmortem is completed," Hearn said.

Aspen Skiing Co. Jeff Hanle said the manager of Aspen Mountain had left him a message about a fatality that occurred outside of the ski area's boundary, but he was unable to contact the manager to find out more about what happened.

The death marks the first skiing-related fatality in the Aspen/Snowmass area during the 2003-2004 season. So far, ski industry officials say the number of skier fatalities in Colorado this season is lower than in recent years

[iskibc]

RIP.

[splat]

After going into the only two treewells I have ever fallen into, both within a ten minute timeframe last year in BC, I will now try to remember to turn below trees instead of above them to not get that deep down bad scary feeling anymore.

[bigtwig00]

i got stuck in a tree well once it took me about an hour to get my ass out. i called it a day after that.

[jayfrizzo]

Paging Pinner.

RIP, guy.

I stopped in the woods to take a whizz the other day and after reading about Frozen's story decided to drop trou about 8 feet from any tree.

J-

[365wp]

More here.

From the article:

An autopsy showed Lipschultz sustained a fatal neck injury because of trauma and he did not suffocate in the snow, Thompson said.

Yikes.

On a similar note, be careful on Berthoud Pass. There was a fatal head-on collision yesterday on the west side after the final hairpin where Rt. 40 turns into three lanes of icy undivided 60MPH insanity.

[Endlessseason]

Poor guy. RIP.

[Endlessseason]

I nearly met my maker after falling into a treewell at Deer Valley on a huge powder day a few years ago. After fighting, crawling, and dragging myself out of that thing, I remember questioning everything--even my core belief in skiing. I wondered if I'd ever ski again.
Fortunately that feeling went away by the time I reached the bottom of the run and caught the next chair...


_____________________________________
"There's never been a better time to be a skier."

[Foggy_Goggles]

reason #1 to wear a helmet

(assumption that he wasn't)

[powpowpowderwheels]

So what am i supposed to do when i get stuck head first in a tree well?

edit: 100!

[ak_powder_monkey]

That sucks It was probably perfect over the shoulder all day snow

[BakerBoy]

Originally posted by Foggy_Goggles
reason #1 to wear a helmet

(assumption that he wasn't)

Why? It said he had a fatal NECK injury. A helmet may or may not have done anything. Just pointing it out.

[AntiSoCalSkier]

Originally posted by Endlessseason
I nearly met my maker after falling into a treewell at Deer Valley on a huge powder day a few years ago. After fighting, crawling, and dragging myself out of that thing, I remember questioning everything--even my core belief in skiing. I wondered if I'd ever ski again.
Fortunately that feeling went away by the time I reached the bottom of the run and caught the next chair...


_____________________________________
"There's never been a better time to be a skier."

Hmmmm, I had a very similar experience in Empire Canyon (Daly Bowl, I think) last New Year's Eve. I got caught up on a rock (there was a couple of feet of fresh on top of nothing), fell, and triggered a little slide which dragged me into a very small tree well. The tree well wasn't the problem so much as the three feet of snow that piled up on my back (the tree helped collect all the snow right on top of me).