Southern Lakes Heliski (NZ) fatality: 8-10-2015

[meter-man]

Video posted. http://snowbrains.com/video-of-the-a...n-nz-released/

Hard to tell whether there were two skiers or just one. If just one, looks like a pretty remote trigger.

RIP

[cat in january]

From the video he seems oblivious to the slide coming down on him. Guessing it was a trauma death as finding him did not look difficult from the video.

[LightRanger]

Interesting. Doesn't appear to be a second skier there, so either a (quite) remote trigger or a really unlucky natural...

[adrenalated]

There's definitely a second dark object in the slide (that comes to rest on the surface), but it's impossible to tell if that's another person or not.

[LightRanger]

There's definitely a second dark object in the slide (that comes to rest on the surface), but it's impossible to tell if that's another person or not.

Ahh. I wasn't looking closely enough and thought that object (that's clearly visible in the resting debris) was the skier. CIJ apparently assumed that too with the trauma comment, because that doesn't add up if that object is the skier. Nothing apparent to hit.

[Gepeto]

2nd object doesn't come into frame until 10s. Fatality from spinal cord injury without anything to impede progress?

I've seen someone get folded over the wrong way. He lived to tell about it.

[cat in january]

Yeah I thought that was him on top. Just read a link on unofficial networks and the report was that he was buried. According to the report slide occurred at 2:30 and he was located at 2:48, but efforts to revive were unsuccessful.

[Z]

Really hard to tell if that object is a 2nd skier on slope or not.

Regardless was their some secondary exposure out of the frame?

[Kinnikinnick]

Terrible.

Looks to me like another skier triggered the slide. If he was with the heli-op then that looks like a major breakdown in safe protocol. Then tragically the deceased guy skied actively to his left underneath the slide and could have easily skied off to the right instead and been free and clear.

[LightRanger]

Based on this article, those actually were other skiers in the debris:
http://backcountrymagazine.com/stori...n-businessman/