Industry News
A collision between two skiers at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming, on Sunday, April 14, 2024, resulted in the death of one of the skiers involved in the collision. The death of the 71-year-old ski instructor Peter Wuerslin has now been ruled a homicide by Teton County’s Coroner Dr. Brent Blue. In an email sent by Coroner Blue, the conclusion of the autopsy was that the uphill skier, an unidentified 34-year-old Wyoming resident, did not exercise appropriate caution when overtaking Wuerslin. The cause of death was determined to be due to “intracranial hemorrhage.”
It is not the first time Teton County’s coroner has ruled a skier’s death a homicide rather than an accident, however, this does not mean that the Teton Sheriff’s Office will come to the same conclusion or that criminal charges will be laid against the 34-year-old uphill skier. The collision is still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and Detective Bret Bommer is urging any eyewitness to the collision to come forward. Detective Brommer can be reached at 307-733-4052.
JHMR Ski Patrol spoke to the skier involved in the collision. | Picture: JHMR
According to the Jackson Hole News and Guide, the unidentified other skier admitted to JHMR Ski Patrol that he had seen Wuerslin skiing downhill of him but that he thought he had given enough room to pass Wuerslin when the latter took an unanticipated turn.
The collision has sparked debates online and in print media on the impact of speed on in-resort accidents and is calling for more measures to be taken to prevent these types of fatal incidents. The problem is not isolated to JHMR or America, with a fatal accident between a Czech and a Dutch skier happening just this week in Austria. Most resorts will have “SLOW” signs in high risk or high density areas but there is currently not much resorts can do to deter high speeds on open runs in the resort. Some ski resorts do threaten to confiscate ski passes for speeding but the efficacy of such measures seems to be up for debate as it does not appear to serve as enough of a deterrent to the many of skiers and boarders.
