GOLDEN, Colo. (KDVR) — A Colorado School of Mines student died in an accident Wednesday on Copper Mountain, the institution reported.
David Vasserman was a senior majoring in petroleum engineering scheduled to graduate in May. He was originally from Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, and on the school’s club rugby team.
According to Copper Mountain and the Summit County coroner’s office, Vasserman was skiing on a run called Bradley’s Plunge in Copper Bowl. It is rated as extreme terrain.
“Ski Patrol members arrived on the scene and performed CPR, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful,” Copper Mountain said in a statement.
“We are saddened by the tragic loss of a young man at Copper Mountain,” Dustin Lyman, Copper Mountain’s president and general manager said. “Our sincerest condolences go out to the affected friends and families.”
The coroner’s report says Vasserman was wearing a helmet but suffered a tear to the artery in his leg.
The tragic accident comes three weeks after another young skier died at Copper Mountain from a crash causing a traumatic brain injury and just days after a 77-year-old woman died at Eldora Ski Resort following a tree collision.
There have been multiple other skier or snowboarder deaths already this season:
- Denver man identified as snowboarder who died in Aspen accident
- Skier dies after collision with snowboarder at Eldora
- 2nd death at Eldora Ski Area within a week
- Backcountry skier dies in avalanche on Christmas Eve
Collisions with serious injuries and even deaths happen on Colorado mountains each year. The Colorado Department of Health’s study in 2018 concluded that collision cases comprise about 5% of all skier injuries.
“Some require a trip to the ski patrol, sometimes that’s all the medical care they get, and others, of course, are taken to an emergency room. And others in that group are then hospitalized, and that’s the most serious injuries. It can involve severe orthopedic injuries, head injuries, lacerations,” ski injury attorney Jim Chalat said.
A spokesman for Eldora told FOX31 last month that staff members discuss safety all the time and understand all ski areas are going to have accidents.
January was skier safety month and the goal was to promote skier and rider responsibility and encourage everyone on the mountains to be safe and use common sense on the slopes.