Troller killed in Snowmass

[raisingarizona13]

for some reason I doubt they pay anyone to ski permanent closures on their own.

I don't want to make assumptions about this tragedy and we will certainly learn the details. However, if this was a free-run, I don't think we can leave out the fact that if it were you or I skiing there, they would have slapped hand-cuffs on our corpse. (i still would not judge her for this, we've all done it)

I expect people will try and run me off the forum for saying that so soon, but how else will her death serve a purpose unless it is to remind the rest of us to respect all closures? (Something I have not done in the past and am now very much reconsidering)

Of course if her boss had her ski it for some reason then she is absolutely a hero

Either way it is a tragedy and I am very sorry for the Snowmass Community and any other family she left behind. She certainly deserves credit for a career of service to others and the ski community

RIP

It's hard for me to believe she was poaching a closed zone being a 49 year old woman skiing alone.

[hutash]

Sad news, two this season.

Be safe out there everybody, paid or unpaid. Mother Nature can be a real bitch at times.

[grskier]

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/156143

Updated story:

Snowmass ski patroller killed in avalanche
by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Monday, December 31, 2012

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A 26-year veteran of the Snowmass Ski Patrol was killed in an avalanche Sunday while skiing in a permanently closed area of the Hanging Valley Wall, marking Colorado’s first avalanche-related death of the winter.

Patricia “Patsy” Hileman, 49, of Snowmass Village, was skiing alone in an area known as Ship’s Prow Glades, near the Upper Ladder section of the Hanging Valley Wall, according to an Aspen Skiing Co. press release. The wall includes some of the most extreme terrain in Snowmass, and sections of it opened for the first time of the season last week.

While skiing, Hileman triggered a small slide and was swept over a cliff, according to SkiCo’s statement.

Ship’s Prow is near a large cliff band located skier’s right of the Upper Ladder run, SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle said.

“It’s not safe for the public to ski,” he said, explaining its permanently closed status.

Hileman, who was working Sunday, was overdue at her station and a search was initiated at 12:45 p.m., according to the company’s statement. She was located by patrol at approximately 1:23 p.m. and medical treatment was initiated immediately. She was pronounced dead at the scene from unspecified causes at 1:37 p.m. and transported to the Snowmass Clinic. The Pitkin County Coroner’s Office released her identity around 9 p.m. Sunday after notifying her next of kin.

“This is a shocking and tragic accident that deeply affects everyone in the company,” SkiCo CEO Mike Kaplan said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with her family and friends at this time.”

SkiCo is conducting an internal investigation into the accident, Hanle said.

Hileman had been with the Snowmass ski patrol since 1986, according to an email that Kaplan sent to SkiCo employees.

“Patsy was passionate about her job, her co-workers and skiing,” Kaplan wrote in the email. “She loved being in the mountains and on her days off, she could typically be found on the mountain or touring the backcountry. She was a true fixture on the Snowmass patrol and her absence will be felt by all of us.”

Kaplan thanked the Snowmass patrol for its “very professional response to the incident.”

“It is always difficult to lose a friend and co-worker, but over this holiday period, it is especially hard,” Kaplan wrote.

Hileman didn’t have any valley residents listed as family members in her emergency contact information on file with the SkiCo, Hanle said.

In 2010, she took fourth place for her age group in the Mother of All Ascensions, a winter uphill race on Snowmass Ski Area, according to official race results.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated Sunday’s avalanche danger in the Aspen zone as “considerable” on slopes near or above treeline facing northwest through east, and “moderate” on all other slopes. The organization posts an avalanche forecast and report to its website each morning, informing the public about snow conditions.

The area where Hileman died is near the site where skier Nicholas “Blake” Davidson was killed in December 2006. Davidson triggered a slide after launching off a cliff in the Rayburn’s Chute area, which was closed at the time. Davidson’s friends who were skiing with him that day, however, said they did not knowingly enter a closed area and never saw a closed sign.

Also on Sunday, skiers reportedly triggered a slide in the Pandora area outside the Aspen Mountain ski area boundary, but no one was caught. Someone from the group reported the slide to ski patrol, which went to the scene to confirm that no one was caught. The area was clear and ski patrol returned to the in-bounds terrain.


curtis@aspendailynews.com

[whipski]

The horror of the patrol working one of their own. The heartbreak of the loss a wonderful collegue must be weighing heavily on them. I can imagine how one might think a traverse thru that section on lower angle might be ok. Ramp up your index of suspicion esp if skiing solo.

[BraddA]

That area has had me spooked since Blake's passing. Really sad.

[oldbastard]

for some reason I doubt they pay anyone to ski permanent closures on their own.


RIP

Former pro patrol director here (Upper Great Lakes area)....if the patroller was there while on duty, they were more than likely suppose to be there.

We would check areas if any recent tracks were made leading to or past the closed signs. As long as people have been skiing there was always someone who would head over to closed areas and ski, after that we have to police the area. Twice a day, I or one of my patrol would check the closed chutes for skiers as some were not viewable from other parts of the hill and sometimes that required skiing to a spot, checking it and walking back out. Keeping an eye out for down skiers in remote and closed areas inbounds of the resort is what we did and I doubt that has changed in the 20 years since I last wore the cross on my back.

[covert]

does anybody have a pic of the zone

[axebiker]

Drrrrgh.... RIP. Bringing in a badly hurt "one of your own" is tough to do, and ultimately what tipped the scales on my "hanging up the cross". Vibes to all involved.

[Shredhead]

Incredabley beautiful woman, person, an all around mountain girl. Sad times on the hill today.


Vibes to the crew, especially JT.

[smitchell333]

Image found on google

[Freuchen Icepick]

Image found on google

Condolences to all touched by this accident, sad deal.

The above photo was taken by Larry Beidleman. According to powdermag.com, where it was posted, Larry's son Neal said of it: "This was taken in the late 60s/early 70s before Elk Camp was built. I think someone threw a charge from the top and my dad was there to witness it on the far side. But it coulda just been a natural."

[BraddA]

^^^Interesting backstory.
Unique perspective, for sure, though it doesn't quite do justice to the height and scale of the zone. Buttload of snow though.

[Neuro]

Sad news. Vibes to friends and family...

[grskier]

^Buttload of snow though.

Was thinking the same thing.. there is a rock in that pic that someone built a kicker off of 2 years ago that probably 15' off the nose... looks MUCH smaller in that.. then again, you could make turns all the way down the buckle in 07/08....

After talking to a few people today.... I just keep getting sad over this one.... maybe it's having my little one around that puts these things into more perspective.

[Tap]

hug a patroller, today

[Clownshoe]

Sad sad days.

Respect and love for all fellow patrollers.

Be safe out there brothers and sisters.

Much love from the Whistler Patrol

[old goat]

Former pro patrol director here (Upper Great Lakes area)....if the patroller was there while on duty, they were more than likely suppose to be there.

We would check areas if any recent tracks were made leading to or past the closed signs. As long as people have been skiing there was always someone who would head over to closed areas and ski, after that we have to police the area. Twice a day, I or one of my patrol would check the closed chutes for skiers as some were not viewable from other parts of the hill and sometimes that required skiing to a spot, checking it and walking back out. Keeping an eye out for down skiers in remote and closed areas inbounds of the resort is what we did and I doubt that has changed in the 20 years since I last wore the cross on my back.

If it were up to me I wouldn't send a patroller into a closed area to look for tracks. If you go into a closed area you're on you're own IMO. Couple of years ago a skier at Squaw set off a slide in a closed area right under a lift and patrollers were in there under considerable hang fire probing for victims--there were none. I understand why patrol does it--there's no such thing as being responsible for your own knowingly wrong actions--particularly in Colorado after the Vail BS.
As the father of a patroller who lost a colleague I can only offer my condolences to the friends, family, and colleagues of Ms. Hileman.

[UrMomsKneePads]

I can understand and agree with your logic.

I'll never second guess the thought process of a patroller who follows tracks into gnar terrain, just to make sure someone else is not in over their head.

You, and other kind souls, put the safety of all of us before yourselves in all scenarios. Bless you all, the ones whose souls have departed us and ones who are still here.