It was a dangerous weekend in the mountains, thanks in part to a heavy winter storm that pounded the West Coast. Five people were caught in an inbounds slide at California’s Squaw Valley while several people were also partially buried at Mammoth Mountain in a slide that struck the resort. There were no fatalities, however.
But in Oregon, things were, randomly, all-together more sad. Two people died in separate incidents including a male snowboarder and a female skier. Mt. Bachelor officials released a solemn post on the mountain’s Facebook page:
Tree well deaths are hardly uniuqe to Mt. Bachelor. Hundreds of accidents both fatal and non-fatal have occurred like this at resorts across the country. According to Deepsnowsafety.org, about 20 percent of all resort fatalities are the result of incidents involving tree wells.
