The worst snowboard accident I ever saw.
By: Aaron Robbins
This is a true story. It happened before my very eyes and ears. About 15 years ago I was skiing at Donner Ski Ranch right after a storm that dumped a few feet of powder on Lake Tahoe area resorts. My dad and I were riding up one of the backside chairs admiring the powdery playground waiting for us under the chair. About half way up the chair we spotted a snowboarder coming down at a pretty good clip. He was in the classic “fast as I can go” pose. Leaning forward with both hands on his front knee he was making very few turns through the powder. Although he was going way too fast, I remember being somewhat glad that he wasn’t taking a big chunk out of the barely tracked powder.
There was something really awful about helplessly watching this guy in pain and not being able to do anything about it. We wanted to get off the chair, but we couldn’t. We wanted it to go faster, but it wouldn’t. We wanted someone to knock him out, but they didn’t. The chair slowly moved towards the top of the lift as we saw the Snow Patrol arrive on scene. We saw them assessing the situation and making arrangements to get him medical attention. When we reached the top of the lift we skied down to the scene of the accident where a moderate crowd had already gathered. Upon seeing us arrive a younger skier felt obligated to tell us what had caused the accident. This is a little hard to explain so perhaps a picture would better illustrate the point.
(For those not able to decipher my equation: The snowboard and lower shin went under something presumably a gnarled stump or branch and the upper shin went over it.)
I eventually gave up skiing for snowboarding and have ridden in powder quite a few times since that day. Every time I do I think about that accident. It kind of gives me that eerie feeling you get when you think about Jaws while in a swimming pool. I wonder what happened to that guy.
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December 12th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
[…] Lake Tahoe has to offer. Also, it seemed like a nice follow up to the article I posted yesterday, “The worst snowboard accident I ever saw.” We’ll start with the North Shore’s hardest runs and then take a look at South Shore. […]
December 15th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
December 15th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for reading. I’m not sure what you “don’t agree” with but I am glad you found the article interesting none the less.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for sharing your story, I especially like the graphics to explain what happened so others can learn from it.
My son works ski patrol at Heavenly and lives in South Lake. He called me yesterday because the worst accident he ever saw happened and he needed to talk. (I’m a critical care nurse and unfortunately have lots of experience with trauma and death)
Let’s just sum it up by saying a beginner snowboarder took the wrong run. She lost control and hit a tree. The results even made the seasoned members of the ski patrol quiver. All we can do now is pray for her.
Down here in So. Calif we lost 2 people (and maybe 2 more)in Avalanches yesterday. Two weeks ago we were in Whistler durinf that big storm and heard about another guy (expert boarder from Australia) who died in an Avalanche.
Anyway, I just needed to share and say - this is a bad year PLEASE BE CAREFUL and be aware of the dangers around you.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Thanks for reading and for sharing Lynne. I had an article about surviving avalanches ready to post but after the tragedies this week I felt a little weird about posting it. Maybe its the perfect time? I didn’t want anyone to think I was using it as some sort of opportunity.
Anyway, skiing is a relatively safe sport but we are still talking about mother nature and gravity. Two things that can get wildly out of hand very quickly. I echo your comments Be Careful Everyone!