 Poster: A snowHead
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The life of a 13-year-old ski racer from Colorado came to a sudden and terrible end yesterday (Sunday) when she collided with a snowmobile. Ashley Stamp was practising on a course above Vail. It appears that the snowmobile was coming up the slope towards her.
Whether the snowmobile was actually on the racecourse is not clear from this report by Vail Daily. [This link was wrongly inputted and has now been deleted by the source]
Edit 20 Dec 9am: The Denver Post has now posted a more detailed account of what happened and why. Click here.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 20-12-04 10:07; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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ssh's link suggests the snowmobile was on the course. Oh dear.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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ssh, thanks for that. I was dealing with two stories at one time and got links mixed up. I went back to check this morning and Vail Daily had deleted the story, probably in preparation for an update. See Denver Post link above for further details.
From this account it looks like a set of circumstances inviting disaster, but no doubt an authoritative explanation will emerge. This is not the first time a racer has died in an avoidable collision with something or somebody on the track. These racecourses have to be managed with very great care. Was the racer authorised to start? Was the snowmobile authorised to be on the track? If so, on what basis?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The Vail Daily is trying to get away from us! The link has now changed to this.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Denver Post has an update on this story. Witnesses have told the paper that the snowmobile was travelling faster than normal on a racecourse. Their full report is here.
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How awful. It does sound as though the resort is going to deny everything (well, they would wouldn't they?) Here we only have the mechanics and some pisteurs on snowmobiles, but I note that it was a resort employee driving it. Scary.
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More on this from Vail Daily News with several of the resort users calling for noisier sirens and bigger flags on the snowmobiles needed to run the resort.
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| "If they have sirens on they should be louder. I would take the sirens they have on the snow groomers and put those on the snowmobiles and make the flag two or three times as big and make them completely obvious," Ervin said. |
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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An update on this investigation again from the Vail Daily News
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The month-a-half-long investigation of 13-year-old Steamboat Springs ski racer Ashley Stamp's death in a collision with a snowmobile on Vail Mountain will be completed next week, said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Shawn Olmstead.
"It's still ongoing, hopefully it will be completed within a week and I'll turn it over to the District Attorney's Office," |
It seems there are conflicting eye witness accounts from credible experienced people about the speed of the snowmobile. I suspect this will go to law and maybe the truth will be revealed ....
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 The investigation of this tragic death is over and no charges are being made. The DA has determined it was simply a tragic accident. Here is the outcome of the investigation of the reports of the skidoo lifting off because of reported high speeds
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Some witnesses estimated that the snowmobile had been going as fast at 35 mph and "catching air" off the knolls. But an investigation by the Colorado State Patrol found that it likely was going only 15 mph, and it tended to lift off the ground even at slow speeds with two crew members on it, which it carried that day.
"If he was really going that fast, it may have changed things," Hurlbert said. "We did a kind of test where we took the same snowmobile over a part of the snow that was similar and ran it at 10 mph, 15 mph and 20mph ... Now even at 10 mph, which is barely making it up the hill, the front end of the snowmobile was lifting off the snow." |
Full story from the Denver Post
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I don't quite understand why the uphill speed of the snowmobile is focused upon in this Denver Post report. So, they've concluded that the collision occurred with racer and snowmobile converging at - say - 55 mph rather than 75 mph (speed of racer assumed hypothetically at 40 mph).
I thought the two key questions were:
1 Had the racer been cleared to run the course? Presumably this has been answered, but the Denver Post doesn't comment.
2 What was the code of practice for running a snowmobile up a cleared race track/area when downhill practice was going on?
It's good that Vail is reviewing its snowmobile operations in the light of this death, but wasn't this a forseeable accident if (and I stress if) the racer had been cleared to run a clear course? What on earth was this deadly obstacle doing anywhere near a race course?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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May have missed this in all the articles, but I see no reference to downhill practice, just a race. Usually just before a race skiers warm up on a separate piste (in France this would be snowmobile free from the moment the main domain is open to tourists) or along the side of the course proper, if conditions/space permit. A snowmobile is usually allocated to the more important events for fetching and carrying, within the fenced off race area. It rarely does a run during the warm-up period, for obvious reasons. From the moment the race begins, if it's a speed event hardly anyone is allowed anywhere near the course, least of all snowmobiles. Slightly less restrictive for GS and slalom, but still no snowmobiles of course. Skiers cannot be cleared to warm up in the course proper - whatever the event. Sometimes you're not even allowed to do a course inspection, skiing through the gates, if conditions are soft. Just sounds like incredibly bad luck to me. When you warm up, there are no staggered starts, as such... you just set off when you feel like it. Skiers approaching a blind spot, during the warm up period, would be foolish to go flat out - another skier may have taken a tumble just below, for example.
All the above just refers to the system over in France.
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A news search for articles on this accident threw up one article which described the race as a slalom, another that suggested the start of the course was inaccessible by lift and Vail commonly used snowmobiles to ferry racers back and forth.
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