Skier dies at West Mountain

Fort Ann teen dies after skiing accident on West Mountain

By DAVID TAUBE | Posted: Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:03 pm

QUEENSBURY -- A Fort Ann teen died Saturday after a skiing accident at West Mountain Ski Resort, police said.

Sean M. LaFlash, 17, skied off a trail near the triple chair lift and into a tree, Warren County Sheriff's Sgt. Tony Breen said. He subsequently suffered extensive head injures and went into cardiac arrest, according to the Sheriff's Office said.

"We feel just awful," West Mountain owner Mike Barbone said. "West Mountain staff, myself and my family send out our condolences."

Barbone said he believed LaFlash was making his last run down the slopes before he was scheduled to participate in the Slush Cup, where skiers and snowboarders skim over a pond, and his grandmother was there with him in anticipation of the event.

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I am so terribly sorry to hear this sad news.  My heart goes out to this young man's family and friends.

So sad.  Makes me wonder if the outcome would have been different if he had been wearing a helmet.

ski2moro wrote

So sad.  Makes me wonder if the outcome would have been different if he had been wearing a helmet.

Ummm...."educated" opinion is No.

So very tragic.  My thoughts are with this young man's family and friends.

Very sad.   I'll say a prayer for his family.

I guess someone has more facts so as to express a more educated opinion that a helmet would not have made a difference in this case.....but things like this only solidify why I have grown accustomed to skiing with a helmet, and I will never allow my kids, under my watch, to ski without one.  And when they aren't with me, they will be educated enough to keep it on.

I'd imagine many people underestimate just how much of blow to the head it can take to have catastrophic consequences....and how much of a difference a helmet can make.

No intention to pass any kind of jugdment here, just hope everyone adds this to their lessons file.

These helmet debates are errant. We wear helmets for many other sports, motorcycles, atvs, bikes, rock climbing, rollerblading, hockey, baseball, football, skateboards, scooters..... on and friggin on. Yet some in the ski community  consistently say helmets won't help skiers. What a bunch of crap.

They speculate that " it wouldn't have help " in given situation, but they have absolutely no way of knowing that and they ignore the millions of incidents were helmets did help.

Can't wait till the Law makes them mandatory.

Snowballs wrote

These helmet debates are errant. We wear helmets for many other sports, motorcycles, atvs, bikes, rock climbing, rollerblading, hockey, baseball, football, skateboards, scooters..... on and friggin on. Yet some in the ski community  consistently say helmets won't help skiers. What a bunch of crap.

They speculate that " it wouldn't have help " in given situation, but they have absolutely no way of knowing that and they ignore the millions of incidents were helmets did help.

Can't wait till the Law makes them mandatory.

Now we are getting into politics.  I wear a helmet by choice to ski and bike, but I don't want to be told I have to because it's the law.

Helmets do help to save lives/prevent or minimize traumatic brain injury.  I don't think that's really debatable.  However, they are not a sure guarantee.  The same as your seatbelt or motorcycle/atv/bike/etc helmet will not save your life in any and all crash situations.  Simply put, there is only so much protection that any of these offer against a massive traumatic event. That by no means implies that they are worthless. It really takes surprisingly little to cause a TBI and the use certainly diminishes the risk. I wear a helmet.  My family wears their helmets.  I LOUDLY advocate the use of helmets to others. To the point it becomes obnoxious.  Yet I agree w/ Kman that I don't want the govt telling me that I HAVE to and I'm certainly not going to judge another should they choose not to.  It's a personal choice and responsibility. I have spent nearly 20 yrs working in Emergency Care, some of those at a major Trauma Center, so yes, I believe I'm qualified to make certain "educated" assessments.  Doesn't mean I'm right, just an opinion.  I have seen what may be called miracles, but unfortunately they are few and far between.  The human body is resiliant, not bombproof.

Just my 0.02 worth.

All of my sympathy goes out to the LaFlash family.  To be alive, we all face risk, and to some extent those of us that survive a long life, are blessed with some luck.

Zelda and I considered helmets late in 2007 when I started skiing the trees.  We went into Mountain and Boardertown in North Creek and looked at what they had. The sales guy told me that all helmets were held to the same standard of performance, but that the better helmets were lighter.  I have no idea if this is true, but it sounded good.

We looked at some Giro's and I was amazed at how light they were. I couldn't even feel it.

I love my helmet. It's warmer than I ever imagined, with built-in ear flaps. I love the ability to vent or not vent it with a lever. Not sure if this is a good thing or not: I feel more confident in the trees.

The only time my helmet has ever been involved in an impact — if you don't count getting whacked in the head by the high peaks chair — was one time on Quicksilver.... I went into a sunny spot on a warm day, and my skis got grabbed by the snow. I spun around and (somehow) went down backwards in slowmotion and the back of my head hit the snow. I was glad I had the helmet, but also surprised at how hard I hit.

If you haven't tried a helmet, do what I did... try on a good one. You might like it.

One problem with some helmets that I've noticed is alot of them DO NOT come down over the crest of the forehead at all. Many kid's helmets are this way. VERY, VERY BAD! No frontal protection at all!!Try many on, make sure they fit well and descend down over the crest of the head.

Years ago, a skier at West merely fell (not going fast) and hit his head on the hardpack, no helmet and died. That actress a year or so ago fell at some mtn's very bottom, going slowish, hit her head, no helmet, and she also died.

Once, a guy yanked his stuck skis outta Gore's gondi rack, he had to pull very hard on them, when they broke lose, he swung them over his shoulder all in one motion and WHACK!!!, their edges came down my helmet very, very hard. No helmet and I woulda at least had a very nasty cut.

Nobody should ski without a helmet.

Obviously they're a good idea, but I agree that it should not be law. I'm not sure how it is set up now, but maybe they should become a mandatory package with renting skis.

One of my knuckledragger friends was coming up to the SB quad from Uncas with a skier on his blind side. He went across his tails and came down HARD. He was pretty out of it for the rest of the day, possibly concussed. If he didn't have his brainbucket on he would have been out cold for sure.

I, personally, can only remember two times where I really hit my head. There have been a few other REALLY hard crashed that I hit just about everywhere but the head doesn't stand out. One was on a bike and I came down on blacktop. No helmet but it scared me quite a bit. I almost always have a helmet on while riding my bike since then. The other I was snowboarding at Sugarbush, caught my back edge and smoked my head. Ok three times, once at Whiteface (again, snowboarding) when I was trying to slide a box. Typical noob lean back too far because I'm scared, slipped out, smoked my head again. Damn, four times. Lumberjack Log Jam three season ago. Came down HARD on my head - this time actually on skis. I was pretty out of it for the rest of the day.

Basically, I've scared myself enough and seen enough people get hurt to keep it on pretty much at all times. Plus it has an iPod hookup, it's really warm, and I can put sweet stickers on it .

Definitely straying from original topic - New thread for respect?

First of all, my condolences to Sean's family and friends.  No matter what the circumstances a loss such as this is tragic.

I find the whole helmet issue a conflicting one.  I know that they provide an added measure of protection and that I should wear one and yet I don't.  I even had one save me when I was much younger while riding a dirt bike so I know first hand their benefits.  I don't even like wearing a hat while skiing.  Cruising down a trail feeling the wind through my hair is a sensation that I love.  All that said, I find myself considering getting a helmet more and more.  I avoid the glades because I don't have one (along with other reasons) and I find myself even avoiding the edges of trails just in case I lose control for some reason.  Also, beyond my own safety I worry about the example that I set for my children.  Our daughter wears one and has questioned my not wearing one more than once.  When all is said and done I will most likely be adding one to my ski gear in the near future BUT that will be MY choice and not because of some law.

As to regulations again I find myself conflicted.  I am very much against the constant onslaught of regulations in our lives BUT I do believe in educating people so that they can make an informed choice.  When it comes to children who are not capable of making that decision then I believe that the parents should make them wear them and I will reluctantly concede that there should maybe be a law regarding children since it's a fact of life that there are some parents out there who will not give this issue the attention that it deserves, but it should still be optional for adults.

I would guess that children who grow up wearing helmets would be much more likely to continue wearing them as adults because they're used to them and wearing one is more or less second nature to them at that point BUT I would prefer to have it be their choice rather than a law.

Again, it's horrible what happened to that young man but perhaps a little good can come from this via discussions, debates and education regarding the benefits of choosing to wear a helmet while on the slope.  At the very least it has made me think very strongly about it again.    

SnowflakeADK wrote

Helmets do help to save lives/prevent or minimize traumatic brain injury.  I don't think that's really debatable.  However, they are not a sure guarantee.  The same as your seatbelt or motorcycle/atv/bike/etc helmet will not save your life in any and all crash situations.  Simply put, there is only so much protection that any of these offer against a massive traumatic event. That by no means implies that they are worthless. It really takes surprisingly little to cause a TBI and the use certainly diminishes the risk. I wear a helmet.  My family wears their helmets.  I LOUDLY advocate the use of helmets to others. To the point it becomes obnoxious.  Yet I agree w/ Kman that I don't want the govt telling me that I HAVE to and I'm certainly not going to judge another should they choose not to.  It's a personal choice and responsibility. I have spent nearly 20 yrs working in Emergency Care, some of those at a major Trauma Center, so yes, I believe I'm qualified to make certain "educated" assessments.  Doesn't mean I'm right, just an opinion.  I have seen what may be called miracles, but unfortunately they are few and far between.  The human body is resiliant, not bombproof.

Just my 0.02 worth.

That's a reasonable 2 cents, and I don't want helmets mandated by law either.

I do think a better answer to the question of whether a helmet would have made a difference would have been......there is no way to know.  

Hypothetically speaking...if you knew someone worked at West as Ski Patrol or as an EMT on the squad that responded or at the hospital AND had insider knowledge, would you not say that a person had an "educated" opinion?  And that person knew that the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information, applies here.  Therefore, a person is not able to communicate specifics without violating another person's civil rights.  Hypothetically speaking, of course. 'Nuf said.

I always wear my helmet. It is comfortable, lightweight, and warm.  I don't even know I have it on.