Sierra Ski Patrol Member Dies After Avalanche
Sierra Ski Patrol Member Dies After Avalanche
A member of a Sierra ski resort’s patrol team who was injured after being caught in an avalanche has died — the second death connected to avalanches that occurred in the area on Monday.
Bill Foster, 53, died at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., where he was taken after the avalanche a day earlier at Alpine Meadows near Lake Tahoe, the resort said in a statement on Tuesday.
Resort spokeswoman Amelia Richmond said she did not know whether Foster, a 28-year veteran with the resort’s ski patrol team, died Monday night or Tuesday.
Foster was buried in a slide that had been intentionally set with an explosive device by a senior member of the ski patrol team. The team was doing avalanche control in an area closed to the public on the back side of the resort.
The avalanche broke much higher and wider on the slope than in past snow safety missions, according to the resort.
Our thoughts are with our fellow LGF’er & friend on the ski patrol, Darthstar, who told us of this tragic death yesterday.