TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. (AP) -- A skier died at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort after falling into deep snow and suffocating.
Jason David Kyle, 37, of Reston, Va., was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at a clinic at the base of the resort.
It appeared he had fallen headfirst into a tree well and was pinned upside down in the snow, the Teton County Sheriff's Office said in a release.
A tree well is a deep hole in the snow formed at the base of a tree where branches keep snow from reaching the ground. In this case, the well was roughly 7 feet deep.
About 2:15 p.m. two skiers spotted Kyle's skis and boots sticking out and dug him out, the release said.
He was unconscious and not breathing, and one of the skiers started CPR while the other went for help. A third skier then stopped and aided resuscitation efforts.
The ski patrol arrived at 2:40 p.m., three minutes after being notified, and continued CPR. Kyle was transported in a toboggan to the medical clinic but never regained consciousness.
An autopsy performed Monday concluded Kyle died of asphyxiation.
Kyle and a friend had been skiing between the Sundance and Croaky Point runs when they were separated after entering some trees.
Jack Decou, a longtime friend of both men, said they were strong skiers and familiar with the mountain.
Note from Jim: Reston is a suburb of Washington, DC, not far from where I used to work.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.
