Not designed for hitting trees, either

[[email protected]]

U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
By Tom McGhee The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST

An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.

Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
County corner's office.

Trichler was wearing a skateboard helmet rather than approved ski
headgear, said coroner Joanne Richardson. "They are not designed for
skiing," she said.

The boy had been skiing on the blue intermediate trail, Bonanza, at
about 9:30 a.m. The ski patrol provided life support and took him to
Breckenridge Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The cause
of death was a head injury.

Resort spokeswoman Nicky DeFord says no one else was involved in the
accident, which occurred in clear weather.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7872623

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> County corner's office.
>
> Trichler was wearing a skateboard helmet rather than approved ski
> headgear, said coroner Joanne Richardson. "They are not designed for
> skiing," she said.
>
> The boy had been skiing on the blue intermediate trail, Bonanza, at
> about 9:30 a.m. The ski patrol provided life support and took him to
> Breckenridge Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The cause
> of death was a head injury.
>
> Resort spokeswoman Nicky DeFord says no one else was involved in the
> accident, which occurred in clear weather.
>
> http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7872623

That's okay, I found an approved tree helmet here:

http://zorb.com/

Safe at any speed,

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 5, 2:41 am, [email protected] wrote:
> U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> County corner's office.
>
> Trichler was wearing a skateboard helmet rather than approved ski
> headgear, said coroner Joanne Richardson. "They are not designed for
> skiing," she said.

Oh, of course! Skateboard helmets are certified for a mere 100 Joule
impact. If he had been wearing a ski helmet, it would have been
certified for 120 Joules. And of course, we KNOW that the 20%
increase would have saved his life!

One must wear the specific magic hat for the specific activity. You
can't have too many helmets!

- Frank Krygowski

 

[still just me]

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 13:11:10 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
>> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>>
>> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
>> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
>> County corner's office.
>>
>> Trichler was wearing a skateboard helmet rather than approved ski
>> headgear, said coroner Joanne Richardson. "They are not designed for
>> skiing," she said.
>
>Oh, of course! Skateboard helmets are certified for a mere 100 Joule
>impact. If he had been wearing a ski helmet, it would have been
>certified for 120 Joules. And of course, we KNOW that the 20%
>increase would have saved his life!
>
>One must wear the specific magic hat for the specific activity. You
>can't have too many helmets!
>
>- Frank Krygowski

hmmm... so both hats would give him 220% protection! That would have
done it.

They should have snipers on the hills with shoot to kill orders for
all those little punks who scream down the hill like madmen,
endangering other skiers safety with every run.

That would slow them down to a safe rate of speed - or at least remove
them from the hill.

 

[Tom Sherman]

[email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
> U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> County corner's office....

Think of the pollution caused by flying more than a quarter of the way
around the world to participate in a motorized [1] sport.

[1] Motors are used to gain the gravitational potential energy.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
POST FREE OR DIE!

 

[landotter]

On Jan 5, 5:12 pm, Tom Sherman <[email protected]>
wrote:
> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>
> > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> > County corner's office....
>
> Think of the pollution caused by flying more than a quarter of the way
> around the world to participate in a motorized [1] sport.
>
> [1] Motors are used to gain the gravitational potential energy.

So you're the weirdo at the mall protesting the escalators?

 

[A Muzi]

>>> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
>>> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>>> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
>>> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
>>> County corner's office.
>>> Trichler was wearing a skateboard helmet rather than approved ski
>>> headgear, said coroner Joanne Richardson. "They are not designed for
>>> skiing," she said.

> [email protected] wrote:
>> Oh, of course! Skateboard helmets are certified for a mere 100 Joule
>> impact. If he had been wearing a ski helmet, it would have been
>> certified for 120 Joules. And of course, we KNOW that the 20%
>> increase would have saved his life!
>> One must wear the specific magic hat for the specific activity. You
>> can't have too many helmets!

still just me wrote:
> hmmm... so both hats would give him 220% protection! That would have
> done it.
> They should have snipers on the hills with shoot to kill orders for
> all those little punks who scream down the hill like madmen,
> endangering other skiers safety with every run.
> That would slow them down to a safe rate of speed - or at least remove
> them from the hill.

The trees seem effective enough.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 5, 4:12 pm, Tom Sherman <[email protected]>
wrote:
> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>
> > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> > County corner's office....
>
> Think of the pollution caused by flying more than a quarter of the way
> around the world to participate in a motorized [1] sport.

It is energy intensive activity at these resorts in many ways.

Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.

Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
this poor kid.

Robert

 

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:55:41 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>>
>> > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
>> > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>>
>> > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>>
>> > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
>> > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>>
>> > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
>> > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
>> > County corner's office....
>
>Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
>ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
>England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.
>
>Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
>this poor kid.
>
>Robert

Dear Robert,

I agree that it's a shame about the dead boy (who "was tearing down
the slope too fast") and that it must be hard on his family.

But my impression is that foolish, reckless, out-of-control behavior
like that is what leads to losing arguments with Colorado's man-eating
ski-resort trees.

Here's a typical "more mature and skillful" victim of Colorado's
man-eating ski-resort trees:

"One witness, Couri Hay, told the New York Daily News he saw the
[family] playing football on skis, using a snow-packed water bottle as
a ball, when the accident happened. Hay said [the dead man] went out
for a pass, caught the ball and slammed head-first into the tree."

"[The dead man] had been recording the game on video, skiing and
taping at the same time, Hay said. . . ."

"[The dead man] was skiing at the end of a clear, mild day on snow
described by other skiers as icy and very fast when he crashed. Such
conditions make it more difficult for a skier to stop. . . ."

"[The dead man] said earlier this year he was undergoing treatment for
alcoholism. In a statement after the statutory rape [of his
babysitter] investigation was dropped, he said only that he made
serious mistakes."

http://www.cnn.com/US/9801/01/kennedy.obit.update/index.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 6, 8:14 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:55:41 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
> >> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>
> >> > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> >> > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>
> >> > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>
> >> > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> >> > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>
> >> > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> >> > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> >> > County corner's office....
>
> >Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
> >ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
> >England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.
>
> >Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
> >this poor kid.
>
> >Robert
>
> Dear Robert,
>
> I agree that it's a shame about the dead boy (who "was tearing down
> the slope too fast") and that it must be hard on his family.
>
> But my impression is that foolish, reckless, out-of-control behavior
> like that is what leads to losing arguments with Colorado's man-eating
> ski-resort trees.

Tsk tsk little boy. That's what one gets when one skies too fast, now.

You're kind of a schoolmarm aren't you Carl.

> Here's a typical "more mature and skillful" victim of Colorado's
> man-eating ski-resort trees:

Yes that's the one I was thinking of. There are many others. I don't
think the 11-year-old was partying, just out of control. It happens,
sometimes. To lesser individuals than yourself I mean.

 

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 21:11:44 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>On Jan 6, 8:14 pm, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:55:41 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>> >> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>>
>> >> > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
>> >> > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>>
>> >> > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>>
>> >> > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
>> >> > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>>
>> >> > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
>> >> > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
>> >> > County corner's office....
>>
>> >Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
>> >ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
>> >England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.
>>
>> >Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
>> >this poor kid.
>>
>> >Robert
>>
>> Dear Robert,
>>
>> I agree that it's a shame about the dead boy (who "was tearing down
>> the slope too fast") and that it must be hard on his family.
>>
>> But my impression is that foolish, reckless, out-of-control behavior
>> like that is what leads to losing arguments with Colorado's man-eating
>> ski-resort trees.
>
>Tsk tsk little boy. That's what one gets when one skies too fast, now.
>
>You're kind of a schoolmarm aren't you Carl.
>
>> Here's a typical "more mature and skillful" victim of Colorado's
>> man-eating ski-resort trees:
>
>Yes that's the one I was thinking of. There are many others. I don't
>think the 11-year-old was partying, just out of control. It happens,
>sometimes. To lesser individuals than yourself I mean.

Dear Robert,

If by schoolmarm you mean that I think that people who behave
recklessly are likely to end up dead, then yes, I'm a schoolmarm.

And I think that the kid could have used a schoolmarm, meaning someone
to stop him before he killed himself skiing out of control into a
tree.

That is, in fact, what you get. I hope that lots and lots of parents
read that article, think how terrible, and then do something to keep
their kids from getting exactly what that kid got.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]
egroups.com>,
[email protected] wrote:

> On Jan 5, 4:12 pm, Tom Sherman <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> > [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
> >
> > > U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
> > > By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
> >
> > > Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
> >
> > > An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
> > > Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
> >
> > > Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
> > > England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
> > > County corner's office....
> >
> > Think of the pollution caused by flying more than a quarter of the way
> > around the world to participate in a motorized [1] sport.
>
> It is energy intensive activity at these resorts in many ways.
>
> Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
> ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
> England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.
>
> Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
> this poor kid.

Sad. Survivors can take away the notion "target fixation".
Don't look at the trees. Look at the huge spaces between them.

--
Michael Press

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 7, 12:47 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> I hope that lots and lots of parents
> read that article, think how terrible, and then do something to keep
> their kids from getting exactly what that kid got.

Actually, it's possible the kid and/or the parents thought "Trees? No
problem. He's got a helmet!"

- Frank Krygowski

 

[[email protected]]

If a death sentence were 'what you get' for reckless skiing, there
would be thousands of deaths each year at Breckenridge alone. This kid
was out of control but also, I think it's safe to say, horribly
unlucky. People also hit trees all the time and come away with minor
injury or none at all. Would you say they are not getting what they
deserve, which is death?

And didn't you spend your Colorado youth riding dirtbikes?

Robert

 

[Tom Sherman]

[email protected] aka Robert ??? wrote:
> On Jan 5, 4:12 pm, Tom Sherman <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>> [email protected] aka "Dear" Carl Fogel wrote:
>>
>>> U.K. boy dies at Breckenridge after hitting tree
>>> By Tom McGhee The Denver Post
>>> Article Last Updated: 01/03/2008 04:27:25 PM MST
>>> An 11-year-old boy from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at
>>> Breckenridge Ski Resort this morning.
>>> Witnesses to the accident said Benjamin Trichler, of Uffington,
>>> England, was tearing down the slope too fast, according to the Summit
>>> County corner's office....
>> Think of the pollution caused by flying more than a quarter of the way
>> around the world to participate in a motorized [1] sport.
>
> It is energy intensive activity at these resorts in many ways.
>
> Still, I think of the poor kid's family. Great vacation they had. Big
> ski vacation in Colorado. Chance of a lifetime for many folks from
> England and usually great fun. My condolences to this kid's family.
>
> Colorado trees have claimed a lot more mature and skillful skiers than
> this poor kid.

If the family can afford to fly to Colorado from England for a skiing
vacation, they are anything but poor. Upper middle class at the least.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"And never forget, life ultimately makes failures of all people." A. Derleth

 

[Tom Sherman]

[email protected] aka Frank Krygowski wrote:
> On Jan 7, 12:47 am, [email protected] wrote:
>> I hope that lots and lots of parents
>> read that article, think how terrible, and then do something to keep
>> their kids from getting exactly what that kid got.
>
> Actually, it's possible the kid and/or the parents thought "Trees? No
> problem. He's got a helmet!"

Helmets prevent 85% of ALL skiing injuries - or was that 69%?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"And never forget, life ultimately makes failures of all people." A. Derleth

 

[[email protected]]

On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 09:24:05 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>On Jan 7, 12:47 am, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> I hope that lots and lots of parents
>> read that article, think how terrible, and then do something to keep
>> their kids from getting exactly what that kid got.
>
>Actually, it's possible the kid and/or the parents thought "Trees? No
>problem. He's got a helmet!"
>
>- Frank Krygowski

Dear Frank,

Could be.

Or maybe he'd just seen too many tv shows, movies, and videos filled
with wildly reckless driving, skiing, flying, bicycling, and
everything else. You know, the shows where the heroes miraculously
escape crashes, injuries, and death while always missing innocent
bystanders.

I sometimes wonder whether the increasing death toll on the ski slopes
is just a matter of far more people skiing or if it's a sign of how
many people confuse carefully staged television stunts with real life.

Whatever the cause, the kid ended up "tearing down the slope too fast"
past witnesses, skiing head-first into a tree, and killing himself.
Given the width of Breckenridge's well-groomed slopes, I suspect that
the witnesses were understating things.

Sad as it is, there's a silver lining--he didn't kill or cripple
someone else.

When I taught freshman English, I learned that lots of boys with two
years of driving under their belts will write self-congratulatory
essays about how hard it is for wonderful young male drivers to put up
with those awful women who litter the roads.

They never seemed to notice that insurance companies always bet that
women will hit fewer stationary objects.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[[email protected]]

On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 13:34:29 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>If a death sentence were 'what you get' for reckless skiing, there
>would be thousands of deaths each year at Breckenridge alone. This kid
>was out of control but also, I think it's safe to say, horribly
>unlucky. People also hit trees all the time and come away with minor
>injury or none at all. Would you say they are not getting what they
>deserve, which is death?
>
>And didn't you spend your Colorado youth riding dirtbikes?
>
>Robert

Dear Robert,

I'd say that "tearing down the slope too fast" and skiing headfirst
into a tree isn't unlucky--it's reckless, dangerous, and likely to
kill you.

I've been riding trials bikes for about forty years. If you can
confuse trials riding with out-of-control, I'm sure that you can keep
up your argument with your straw men.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[John Forrest Tomlinson]

On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:00:56 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>I sometimes wonder whether the increasing death toll on the ski slopes
>is just a matter of far more people skiing

Perhaps I missed the information, but is there really an increasing
death toll skiing? And is the rate of death per hour skied increasing?

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 7, 9:04 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 13:34:29 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
> >If a death sentence were 'what you get' for reckless skiing, there
> >would be thousands of deaths each year at Breckenridge alone. This kid
> >was out of control but also, I think it's safe to say, horribly
> >unlucky. People also hit trees all the time and come away with minor
> >injury or none at all. Would you say they are not getting what they
> >deserve, which is death?
>
> >And didn't you spend your Colorado youth riding dirtbikes?
>
> >Robert
>
> Dear Robert,
>
> I'd say that "tearing down the slope too fast" and skiing headfirst
> into a tree isn't unlucky--it's reckless, dangerous, and likely to
> kill you.

You're assuming, with your relentless 'those damn kids' attitude, that
this particular kid was skiing in a deliberately reckless fashion,
which may have been the case. He may also have been 'tearing down the
slope too fast' because he was a beginner skier who got a little over
his head and lost control. It happens all the time, in skiing and
other pursuits in which part of the purpose, even for many highly
experienced experts, is to ride near the edge of control.

It occurred to me when reading this thread that something similar
happened to me when I was about this kid's age. I hit a tree while
cross-country skiing down a moderate hill. It happened because I had
no idea what I was doing, and controlling oneself on cross country
skies is difficult. Lucky for me that justice did not prevail that day
and I escaped without injury.


> I've been riding trials bikes for about forty years. If you can
> confuse trials riding with out-of-control, I'm sure that you can keep
> up your argument with your straw men.

Never done any trail riding at speed on your self-proclaimed
'adventures' with your friends? Usually one doesn't go straight to the
trials riding. If you've never had any sort of incident with a tree
while trail riding that would put you in the minority of Colorado
trail riders I would imagine.

Robert