PRINCETON – One skier was killed in a crash on Wachusett Mountain Monday and another was seriously injured in a separate incident.
A spokeswoman for the resort said a 67-year-old man hit a tree on the Salamander Cutoff, an advanced trail around 9:25 a.m. Massachusetts State Police said the skier was found “unresponsive by another skier who passed by.”
Wachusett co-owner Carolyn Crowley Stimpson told WBZ-TV the ski patrol did their best to save him.
“CPR patrolled the area and took him to the base area where he was taken by ambulance,” Stimpson said.
He was later pronounced dead. His name has not been released. State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the death.
Stimpson said this is the first fatality in Wachusett in 15 to 20 years. “It’s just heartbreaking. It’s truly a family atmosphere here, so we’re all broken up,” he told WBZ.
“The entire Wachusett family mourns this tragic loss. All our thoughts are with the skier’s family and friends,” Wachusett public relations manager Chris Stimpson said in a statement.
Skier Leo Collard from Upton said he saw rescue vehicles arriving on the mountain and learned of the accident from a fellow skier.
“We saw the rescue vehicles and then I ran into a gentleman who told me this guy had come off the side of the mountain and hit a tree,” Collard said.
Expert skier Frank Kelliher of West Roxbury said even though he had skied the trail before, it was difficult to navigate.
“I’m an expert skier; I’ve been skiing for a long time and that’s a tough trail,” he said. “It’s narrow, it’s an old New England-style trail — it’s probably freezing at this time of the morning.”
Regarding the mountainside conditions on the trail, Wachusett veteran Polly Bixby of Orange, New Hampshire said she was alerted to icy conditions while hiking, noting that those conditions are expected after the a cold night.
“That’s usually, anyone who goes there after a cold night – it should be like that,” he said. “You take risks as a skier, it’s not the mountain’s fault, it just happened.”
Princeton firefighters were called back to the mountain just after 11 a.m. for a report of a 74-year-old man with a “headache.” He was rushed to UMass Medical Center in Worcester and is expected to be fine. He was skiing the 10th Mountain Trail when he was injured.