Industry News
A skier has died after becoming trapped upside down in a tree well at Grand Targhee Ski Resort, Wyoming, on Saturday, February 17. The man was identified by Teton County Sheriff’s Office as 67-year-old William Douglas England from Lakewood, Colorado. England and his partner were tree-skiing below the Colter Lift between the Silver Jae and Eleanor run when they got separated. At the bottom of the slope, England’s partner stopped to wait. When they did not hear from England for 10 or 15 minutes, they alerted ski patrol.
England had been found by skiers who had spotted him upside down in the tree well and had started digging him out. When ski patrol arrived at the site, they extracted England from the tree well and initiated resuscitation. EMTs were also dispatched to the scene by snowmobile, but efforts to revive the Colorado skier were unsuccessful. He was eventually helicoptered to Teton Valley Hospital in Driggs, Idaho, where he was pronounced dead. While the coroner’s report is still to be issued, it is currently assumed England died from asphyxiation.
A tree well is a void or depression that forms around the base of a tree and most likely under the branches that hang from those trees, disguising the void. This void may contain a mix of low-hanging branches, loose snow, and air. While skiing or snowboarding, it is tough to determine if a tree well exists, so skiers and riders should treat every tree the same.
Following the incident, Idaho avalanche professionals are urging skiers and boarders to keep an eye on their partner while traveling tree-skiing (or –boarding). “It’s not enough to ski with a partner,” said Paul Baugher, a retired Pacific Northwest mountain guide, in an interview with JHNews, “You have to keep them in sight or maintain contact.”
