Lest We Forget

Over the past weeks we have had a number of situations that have resulted in skiing fatalities. Michael Kennedy in Colorado, Sonny Bono in Nevada and the backcountry skiers that died in an avalanche in British Columbia.

Bono was vacationing at South Lake Tahoe with his wife and their two children — daughter, Chianna, 6, and son, Chesare, 9 — when he slammed into a tree while skiing on Monday. He died instantly.

Michael Kennedy's accidental death occurred after he slammed headfirst into a tree on Aspen Mountain on Dec 31. Pitkin County Deputy Coroner Tom Walsh said in his statement, "A forensic autopsy performed on the decedent showed the cause of death to be from massive head and neck trauma. The manner of death was accidental."

I doubt we will ever know the actual cause or causes of the accidents involving Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono, but I suggest that they could have been avoided in one way or another. I can only speculate in the case of Michael, that perhaps he was paying attention to the game and his video camera and not on where he was skiing.

In the case of the skiers that perished in the B.C. avalanches one must realize and respect the risks of skiing in the backcountry. There are objective and subjective dangers. The objective ones are those that come with the sport that one can learn to accept. However, the subjective ones are those that you can decide not to subject yourself to, such as avoiding steep slopes at high noon or not traveling alone.

Although skiing and snowboarding are very enjoyable sports, we have to remind ourselves that these sports do have their risks and we have to be aware of them. There are elements of risk in skiing that common sense and personal awareness can help reduce.