Backcountry skier dies after falling 600 feet down Mount Washington ravine:-On Saturday, an outdoor skier died after falling about 600 feet down a ravine on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The terrain was hard and icy, officials said Sunday.
Backcountry skier dies after falling 600 feet down Mount Washington ravine
A news report from the U.S. Forest Service says that 20-year-old Madison Saltsburg fell about 600 feet down the Tuckerman Ravine on Saturday. Tuckerman Ravine is a glacial cirque on the southeast face of Mount Washington. The Mount Washington Avalanche Centre and the U.S. Forest Service sent teams to get Saltsburg off the mountain because he “suffered fatal traumatic injuries.”
A lot of skiers, snowboarders, and hikers visit the steep bowl every year, says the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development. A lot of backcountry skiers and riders like to go to the ravine because it has deep snow and difficult terrain.
But the U.S. Forest Service said that the bowl was dangerous over the weekend because it was hard and icy because it hadn’t snowed in a while and it was cold. Several accidents happened on Saturday, and rescues had to search for hours in heavy, wet snow and strong winds.
“Throughout the year, this very steep ski mountaineering terrain, and other areas around Mount Washington, are subject to ever-changing mountain hazards,” said the U.S. Forest Service. “These commonly include avalanches, open crevasse holes, icy steep slopes, and falling rocks and ice.”
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‘Unforgiving conditions for a slip and fall’
It was “hard, icy snow surfaces, open crevasse holes, and unforgiving conditions for a slip and fall,” the U.S. Forest Service said of Saltsburg and her snowboarding partner.
Colleen Mainville, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, told The Associated Press that first responders and snow rangers had been in the mountain late Saturday night. Mainville said, “They’re worn out.”
The U.S. Forest Service says that snow guards also helped two other skiers who were seriously hurt after falling and hitting rocks and ice. Mainville said their wounds were not life-threatening.
Besides those two incidents, the U.S. Forest Service said they saw many other falls during the day that did not cause major injuries.
Mount Washington known for challenging conditions
Mr. Tuckerman The best time to visit Ravine is in the spring, when the sun starts to melt the snow. A lot of skiers and snowboarders walk the three miles to the valley some days.
Mount Washington, at 6,288 feet, is the Northeast’s tallest hill and a common place for rescues. The chance of an avalanche on Saturday was low, but the U.S. Forest Service said that springtime mountain hazards were still a big risk for tourists.
New Hampshire Fish and Game said that on Friday, a 23-year-old hiker from Kentucky was saved from the mountain after going off trail and into the Ammonoosuc Ravine. The hiker “fell and hit his head and face, lost one of his trainers and eventually got too cold to stay alive,” the agency said.
Someone else was rescued from the Ammonoosuc valley in February after they hit a patch of snow-covered ice and fell hundreds of feet into the valley. Rescue efforts went on for 11 hours because of what happened, and the walker later admitted that he wasn’t ready for the hike.
Dangers of snow sports
In the past few years, many snow sports accidents have made national news. In January, an avalanche hit a California ski lodge near Lake Tahoe and killed one person and hurt three others. Later that same month, 23 skiers and snowboarders were saved from the backcountry in Vermont, where it was very cold and dangerous.
People all over the country who enjoy winter sports were reminded of how dangerous they can be by these events. The National Ski Areas Association and other experts in the field have told skiers and snowboarders to be aware of dangerous weather, changing snow conditions, machines working on slopes and other skiers and snowboarders.
The group said that 46 skiers and snowboarders died in ski areas during the 2022–23 U.S. ski season. The group says that the total number of deaths during the season was a little higher than the 10-year average of 42 deaths per season in the business.
Accidents that killed people were mostly caused by speed, losing control, and hitting things on hills. The ski areas association said that the season also had record-breaking snowfall, which added to a “unusually high number” of deaths from being buried in deep snow.