Page 1 of 1

Skier death at Windham Mtn

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:20 pm
by dave
A 18-year-old woman, named Erin Clare Malloy-McArdle from Long Island, has died after a skiing accident at Windham Mountain around 10:30am on Sunday. She was a novice skier skiing on an Intermediate slope named Upper Warpath. She lost control and struck a tree. As with most skier impacts, she had extensive head injuries. She was transferred to Columbia Memorial Hospital by Windham Ambulance.

Image
Red Arrow shows where the trail was

You can download a map of the mountain here: http://www.catskillmountaineer.com/maps ... Map-01.pdf

Important Note: Please remember that the family will be reading your comments, so please don't speculate and make rude comments.

Re: Skier death at Windham Mtn

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:55 pm
by mtnclimber
From what I heard, she wasn't wearing a helmet, and was going very fast. Very sad outcome. My condolences to the family. Do you have a picture of her?

Re: Skier death at Windham Mtn

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:09 pm
by mike
First and foremost, please let me extend my condolences to the family. I am very sorry for your loss.

I have been skiing for decades, and I am an expert skier. A helmet is worthless for tree impacts. Many get a false sense of security by using them. But, when you hit a tree at a high rate of speed, a piece of plastic will not help. This has been back up by experts.

Over the years I have taught quite a few people how to ski. About 15 years ago I did have a close call. I had a group of people I was teaching at Windham. I had spent some time with them on the lower slopes. I then took them to the top. As we were getting off the lift, one of the girls unexpectedly took off. She was very athletic and talented. Out of concern, I took off after her. She continued to ski straight down the slope. I started to think that maybe she had skied before. But, as she gained speed, I got very concerned. She was skiing down Upper Warpath. About half way down, the trail shifts, so you must negotiate the turn. As we approached the turn, I was pulling up to her to stop her when she crashed very hard. We were moving about 50 mph. I don't know the circumstances of this young girl, but I am well aware of the turn half way down. The top of the mountain is sloped very gradually, so sometimes people get a false sense of confidence, and can get themselves into trouble. I can certainly understand how the accident happen. I just wish we had a different outcome. RIP Erin.