# Accident on slopes kills area skier, 39



## Nachtwächter (Dec 9, 2005)

*Accident on slopes kills area skier, 39*

Man crashes at Mt. Wachusett

* By Edward J. Canty TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]
*

* 
PRINCETON- * A 39-year-old southern Worcester County man skiing at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area yesterday died after losing control on an advanced-level trail and crashing in the woods, officials said.

The victim's identity was not released last night by state police detectives assigned to District Attorney John J. Conte's office, pending notification of his family.

"Witnesses reported he was coming down the trail at a high rate of speed," said Tom Meyers, the ski area's marketing director. "As he approached a caution sign, he turned to the right, where he tried to avoid another skier on the trail. His ski came off and he spun around, landing in the woods backward."

Caroline C. Stimpson, vice president of Wachusett Mountain Associates, which operates the ski area, said witnesses told her the man was skiing on the 10th Mountain Trail, one of five ski runs off the mountain's 2,006-foot summit.

Two off-duty police officers were skiing behind the man and helped him when they saw him go down. They were quickly joined by Ski Patrol members, who brought him down to a first aid facility at the mountain, officials said. He was administered CPR by the police and the Ski Patrol before being taken by ambulance to the East Princeton fire station.

Princeton Police Chief Charles P. Schmohl said his department learned of the accident when the town Fire Department was notified about 3:20 p.m. to secure the fire station on Route 140. The station is used by Life Flight helicopter as a landing zone.

He said Life Flight arrived at the station, where the injured skier had been taken, but did not transport him to a hospital. The chief was unsure who would have pronounced the skier dead at the scene.

"As a result of it being a fatal accident, that's when the Princeton police and state police got involved," he said. The accident is being investigated by his department and state police.

The accident was the first skiing fatality at the mountain since January 2004, when Rebecca Doane, 18, of Hubbardston, died after crashing into another skier, then hitting a tree. It was only the third skiing death in almost a dozen years, the Telegram & Gazette archives show.

On March 30, 1994, Michael J. Higgins, 17, of West Brookfield, was killed when he slipped on an icy patch on the Smith Walton Trail. He hit a tree and died, a skiing companion said.

Ski officials said in a 2005 news article that during the previous year, the mountain saw about 400,000 skiers. With that number of participants, the fatality rate at Wachusett was about four times better than the national average, they said. The Wachusett rate at that time was 4.21 deaths per million. The ski area's Web site shows the level of safety emphasized.

The business has an award-winning ski patrol as well as rangers, the site says: "The ski patrol is made up of approximately 150 men and women who are certified in Outdoor Emergency Care.

Our Ranger program is made up of approximately 50 men and women who ski the mountain teaching safety on the snow and ensuring that our customer are safe."

The ski patrol has a zero-tolerance policy on family trails and slow-skiing trails. "If you are caught skiing or riding too fast or above your ability, your pass will be suspended for one week," the site says.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.


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## Nachtwächter (Dec 9, 2005)

*Skier's brother got ahead, waited*

Gear possibly a factor in Dudley man's death

* By Jean Laquidara Hill and Taryn Plumb TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
*

* 
PRINCETON- * Robert A. Roy swerved to avoid colliding with a teenager Thursday at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area and his ski came off, causing him to lose control and run into a tree, fatally injuring himself, according to Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte.

His older brother, Vincent Roy, 43, described the 39-year-old Dudley resident as an advanced skier who had 20 years of experience on the slopes.

"He was a great skier," Vincent Roy said yesterday. "It was just a freak accident."

The brothers had been skiing all afternoon when the accident occurred on an expert trail. According to Mr. Conte, it happened between the 11th and 12th poles on the 10th Mountain Trail about 3 p.m. Thursday.

Vincent Roy said he and his brother got to the mountain around noontime and planned to leave around 3 p.m. after one last run down the black diamond trail.

"It was our last run of the day," he said.

He described his brother as a workaholic who, in addition to his job, owned his own flooring business. Mr. Roy said his brother was a dedicated father who often brought his 6-year-old son, Anthony, along with him on flooring jobs.

"He was just an awesome, awesome guy," Mr. Roy said. "I'm going to miss him."

Robert Roy, of 16 Tanyard Road, Dudley, had been an officer with the Connecticut Department of Corrections since 1994 and was working in the Brooklyn Correctional Institution, according to Brian A. Garnett, director of external affairs for the Connecticut DOC.

When skiing down the trail, the brothers approached a mogul area where young teenagers were grouped. To avoid hitting them, Vincent Roy cut to the left while Robert Roy swerved to the right. Vincent Roy continued skiing over the ridge, then stopped a little farther down the mountain to wait for his brother.

"He must have cut too far and one of his skis popped off," Mr. Roy said. "I thought he wiped out, lost his skis. I waited, waited, waited."

After a while, he started calling his brother's name, but there was no answer. Passing skiers told him that someone had been in an accident in the woods, he said, so he took his skis off and ran up the hill. At that point, he saw his brother in the woods, surrounded by three or four people.

From what he understands, he said, his brother died on impact.

"If Rob had hit the kid, he would've killed him," he said. "He killed himself instead."

The 10th Mountain Trail is one of the most difficult trails on the mountain, according to Jeff Crowley, president of Wachusett Mountain Associates, which operates the ski area.

"You can't control yourself if you're on one ski," Mr. Crowley said yesterday, saying his heart goes out to the Roy family.

Mr. Crowley said Mr. Roy's equipment may have malfunctioned, causing the ski boot to release the ski. He said that, as far as he knows, Mr. Roy was not wearing a helmet.

It is not unusual for children to be on the advanced slope. Mr. Crowley said he did not know the age of the adolescent and was unsure whether investigators had learned his identity. Mr. Conte did not return a call seeking that information.

In a news release, Mr. Conte said, "Preliminary indications are that Mr. Roy was skiing down the hill at a high rate of speed when he encountered a small child skiing. He was on a collision course with the young child, and took evasive actions."

David I. Crowley, general manager of the ski area, said he does not know if the child was aware of the accident.

According to Carolyn A. Stimpson, vice president of Wachusett Mountain Associates, the area was not crowded at the time.

"What seemed to happen was he turned at the caution sign and he went to avoid another skier. He did an abrupt turn maneuver; this is all from witnesses," Mrs. Stimpson said.

"It looked like his boot spun him around backward and he went into the woods backward," she said.

The accident happened when fewer skiers were on the mountain than there had been earlier in the day, she said. "It was actually a pretty quiet time." Some day skiers had left and the evening skiers had not yet arrived, she said.

Mr. Roy became airborne and struck trees as he fell, according to Mr. Conte. Two off-duty police officers, whose names Mrs. Stimpson did not know, stopped to help.

"The police officers who were right there on the scene literally stopped right there and started performing CPR," she said.

The Wachusett Mountain Ski Patrol brought Mr. Roy down the mountain, where a Medstar ambulance was waiting, according to Princeton Police Chief Charles P. Schmohl. The ambulance took Mr. Roy to the East Princeton Fire Station to meet the helicopter, and Life Flight medical personnel pronounced him dead at the fire station. He was not transported by Life Flight, according to police.

State police and Princeton police investigated the death, and Princeton police helped notify the family, said Chief Schmohl.

According to Mr. Conte, there were no suspicious circumstances and no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Mr. Crowley said the fatal accident on Thursday was about 1,000 yards uphill and on the other side of the trail from where Rebecca Doane, 18, of Hubbardston, was killed in January 2004.

Her voice breaking, Mrs. Stimpson described Mr. Roy as a regular at the ski area. "Our biggest concern is for him and his family," she said.

Mr. Roy said his brother had a Century Pass, which is Wachusett's unlimited season ski pass, and had skied at Wachusett for 12 years. The brothers would generally ski once or twice a week, he said. They would also go on skiing trips up north or to the Berkshires for a weekend or half a week.

They stuck mostly to blue and black diamond trails, which are the most challenging slopes.

"I had a great day skiing with him," he said. "I'm glad I got to spend the last few hours of his life with him."


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