Skier Death

On Tuesday December 22, 2015 at 11:00AM the Teton County Sheriff’s Office received a call about an unresponsive female skier in the Sundance Gulch just below top of the Casper Chairlift. CPR was initiated and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Patrollers responded to the scene. The victim was transported to the Teton Village Clinic where she was pronounced dead.
The victim was identified as 25 year old Kelsey Hewitt of Portland, OR.
Preliminary investigation indicates that Hewitt fell head first into a tree well and was unable to self-extricate. Common cause of death in these situations is suffocation, although an official cause of death will have to be determined by the Coroner.
The North-West Avalanche Institute has a Snow Inversion Suffocation (SIS) information website:
http://www.deepsnowsafety.org/index.php/
Winter recreationists should be well informed of the dangers that tree wells and SIS represent.

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