Death in Breck Terrain Park

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Snowboarder killed at Breckenridge ID'd as Kansas doctorThe Associated PressArticle Last Updated: 01/21/2008 12:50:30 PM MST
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo.—A 33-year-old snowboarder who was killed in an accident at Breckenridge Ski Resort has been identified as James McLean, a doctor from Leawood, Kan.Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson says McLean died of a fractured neck when he landed on his head after going airborne at the ski area's terrain park on Sunday.Richardson says McLean was wearing a helmet.A spokesman for University of Kansas Medical Center says McLean was a resident there and was board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
 
rip dude this is bad news for the development of parks as well as some parks wanting to get rid of jumps this is just another reason... but rip...
 
Would that 33 year old have gone and gotten a park pass if they had that program? Expert parks should not be wide open to the public. Not saying that that guy didn't have the skills or the fortitude to go and get a pass if there was one. I am just saying....
 
shitty RIP would like to know if he belonged in teh big park and just messed up or sholdent have been there.
 
.....damn....Breck usually has icy landings right now too I would imagine. Definitely be careful and dont just be hucking yourself unless you know what you are doing
 
RIP

but this is probably bad news for terrain parks, seen as rcr got rid of jumps i wouldnt be suprised if this was forced upon the us parks...
 
Does anyone know what park he did it in? All the articles I read yesterday did not mention this...
 
i forgot where it was, but i think i remember a resort that used to have their biggest park have a thing where you had to sign a waiver to get in a few years ago.

i wanna say it was kirkwood.

RIP
 
I don't think it was in freeway though. When I was there on sunday park lane was closed in the mourning and they had a whole bunch of people on the second jump, and a whole buunch of tools I have never seen too...probably checking to make sure it was 100% his fault...
 
"The accident happened at 1:51 p.m. Sunday in the Park Lane Terrain Park on the intermediate run."

is this a big, medium, or little jump line for breck?

hopefully no lawsuits follow

pray he's slashing some pillows in heaven
 
word... it's just that our little hill was basically quiet all season with few if any trauma cases and then last weekend..... I watched a train of ambulances rolling in and out and watched a kid come within a few feet of landing on a from a 60 footer, etc etc etc on and on..

Anyone can get hurt anywhere, wrap themselves around treees - sorry for the rant... it just gets my blood going when a park is mentioned in an accident.
 
they were probably surveying the jump to know the details of the accident for the legal shitstorm that is likely to fall upon the resort/park crew.

that's sad, I remember last year right around this time a young snowboarder died at copper of neck injuries if memory serves me.
 
Again, even more proof that park passes are a necesity. I can't count how many times in the past month I've seen a very beginner skier in the park almost cause multiple accidents (or worse, actually cause them), or almost get landed on because they stopped on a landing with no one aware, shit like that.

Anytime anyone runs into someone that works at a mountain start bugging them about park passes. It's the only option to save the park for us.
 
medium. the last time i rode through there was 2 weeks ago and it was three 25-30 footers at the top, a step down 30 footer, and then some smaller jumps on the lower part of the run.

he was from kansas, and i do not know if he lived in breck or was on vacation so i am not making an assumption, but there are way too many ski/snowboarders going off jumps that they are not qualified to hit. it is a terrible tragedy for he and his family/friends. you have my deepest sympathies.

i personally talked a vacationer (with a heavy texan drawl) out of trying to hit the big line at breck's freeway park last year. he was wearing a huge backpack and sunglasses, 6'2" and skiing on 160cm rental skis that looked like snowblades on him. he rolled up to the drop in and he asked me what the speed was on the jump line. it took me 3 seconds to comprehend that he was talking about hitting the big line. even after i told him "no", he tried to convince me that even if he fell, he was tough and would not get hurt. i did not budge and would not let him go off the jump because i would have felt responsible for his injury if i did not say anything.

until there are park pass systems in place i think there is a little bit of responsibility on us to try to deter people that clearly have no business hitting these jumps from doing so. i am not suggesting that we act like dickheads and make people feel stupid for being in the park who are just curious, but i think if someone asks you about a feature and is unsure if/how they should hit it, you should let them know the consequences of their actions and refer them to a lower level park which are great for learning. you can not always tell someone's ability from their appearance, but sometimes it is blatently obvious that they should not be hitting jumps. whether or not you choose to take on the responsibility is your choice. i know that i have been advised in other sports that i was new at, by far more experienced participants, not to do something that i was unsure about. looking back, i am grateful for that wisdom.

 
every time I see someone who doesn't belong in a park I try and talk to them and be nice. Most times they'll thank you because they have no idea how dangerous they actions are. just lay it out for them in real terms. you are going to get hurt ior cause someone to get hurt if you keep going through the park, so please don't.
 
damn sad to hear...

I wonder if we'll ever see the Leatt Brace in skiing....it erupted in the motocross industry. For the first time it's a comfortable neck brace that is designed specifcally to prevent neck trauma. Would you guys ever wear this brace skiing? I think some adjustments sould have to be made for a ski helmet because this brace looks like its molded to fit a moto helmet...

stenberg_NM9W4005.jpg
 
well said.

how fucking hard is it to make this happen? ud think hills would be jumping at the chance too reduce their liability.
 
i heard that, really sad to hear....i was there yesterday and was really disappointed at how many gapers were hitting even the smaller jump line
 
Every "big" park should be like Blackcomb's : NO FUCKIN GAPERS ALLOWED! this is really sad though, terrible terrible thing to happen.
 
Thats really sad. R.I.P for sure.

i really hate stories like this because they actually make me think, what if next time i go out and i break my neck.... they really freak me out. But i guess ill die when i die, i could die in the next 5 minutes. So the most you can do is try and be careful because god( or allah or budda or wwhatever) can take your life when ever. I also hate this because it gives bad reps to the parks..
 
Just wondering why everyone jumps on the blame train...Here we have a 33yo who just finished medical school, specialized in P.T. and was likely a lifetime snow sports enthusist - like moany of you.

I hate to say it, but if this happened to one of your own, would you jump on the blame the skier game...

Just call it for whta it is, no apologies - he jumped, he fell he died. Not the parks fault and likely just a mistake made by him. I seriously doubt he lacked the intelligence or judgement not to understand what he was doing.

You cannot call a doctor specializing in sports injuries a GAPER - by definition they know a fuck ton more than all of you combined.

Mistakes happen, people die - lay of this guys grave and move on -

Vultures
 
you are a model for all of NS

there is no reason people can not be in the park learning/ progressing... but there comes a point when it is just to dangerous for someones skill level..

(note) i would never hit the big jump line at breck, i know im no where near good enough to hit big jumps/ rails.
 
I don't think it is that. Frankly for me, this thread brought back a really rotten visual of my kid flying 80 foot through the air and almost landing on a little 6 year old. His dad brought him into the park run ironically cause he was worried about him getting ran over on the other more crowded trails.

No... I am sorry. From the scant information and speculating and hypothesizing on my part, the guy was from Kansas and a Medical School Resident and probably at Breck to blow off some steam. Had skills and or confidence to hit a bigger jump and did so....

My point is. If there was a park pass program, would he have taken the time to get a pass or would he simply have spent his time ripping around the other 100 trails. We will never know.

It's sad that things like this come up and I for one, would like to see something positive come out of it - if its possible at all.
 
Just because he was a snow sports enthusiast does not mean that he knew what he was doing or belonged in Park Lane at Breck. Just like the fact that he was a doctor has nothing to do with common sense or his ability to judge his physical limitations. He is a Doctor which means that he studied biology and chemistry in undergrad, went to medical school, passed his boards and became a doctor. He is probably intelligent guy and that is all we can deduce from his education. I have buddies who are doctors who are MORONS when it comes to common sense. I have buddies who are doctors who are freewheelin idiots always pushing the limits of what he can/should do. This doctor from Kansas may know sports medicine and may know sports injuries, but he also might have NO idea about what it takes to hit a 35 foot table top.

Just like we cannot make an assumption on his riding ability, you cannot make one about his common sense.

 
Big Pappa,

I respectfully disagree,

^It would not be a stretch to assume that he understood basic physics, momentum and velocity are certainly covered topics.

But people are jumping to conclusions based on the guys age and place of birth. Two assumptions that should be carefully made when talking down about someones death. Additionally, we do not know what feature or how he died, Important information when quickly waiving the this guys a moron flag. Maybe he over-rotated a switch 900 off a 60-foot table or maybe he caught an edge off a 5-foot hip. We do not know, and to postulate his demise and how this is just another example of gaperism is disrespectful and unfortunant.

Park passes or other systems are a start, but they may have not prevented this and will not eliminate the rate of injuries in parks. Riders of all abilities DIE skiing, it is just odds and time until the next park death happens.

Which is safer, an open park of low/medium challenge or a restricted park of professional proportions?

Would people get injured, possibly critically in a closed/restricted park? Yes and at likely at the same statistical rate, passing some subjective qualification does not make one immune from the injury. Who would set the standards, and would they be held liable if they "passed" someone who then proved to show zero commonsense.

 
yeah i was there it was the 2nd jump and i was on the lift when he was going down in one of those sleds and they were doing cpr on him. thats sad man i thought he was just unconscious.
 
Does anyone really believe that a park pass would prevent something like this? I realize that it will work toward keeping people out of the park accidentally, or without proper info on how to work through a park, but what about people intentionally entering the park? It seems to me (through no research, just memory) that most of the people that are seriously injured or die in the park are usually there intentionally with the belief that they have sufficient knowledge and ability to be there. Strange things happen, accidents happen, but would a park pass really help? I don't see death rates falling if every ski area requires a park pass....

RIP to the guy, and hug your family and friends when you get a chance.
 
Yes, a park pass would help. Especially a resort as busy as Breck that sees such a large amount of tourists each year (or just Summit County in general). I have watched numerous "gapers", "texans", etc. splatter in both Freeway and some of the smaller parks at Breck. It will help accidents like this from reoccuring. Maybe this doctor from Kansas knew what he was doing and had bad luck landing/taking off on the jump, but there are numerous cases of people snow-plowing into a 60 foot jump and crushing themselves on the deck.

RIP buddy, try and keep safe. Know you ability!
 
it is unfortunate that the majority of everyday skiers fail to realize how their actions make enjoying a day on the snow much more difficult for the advanced/expert crowd.

thus there is tons of friction from the "skiing is my life" crowd aimed at the "skiing is merely a hobby" crowd, but the latter is completely unaware of it.

this thread brings up the ever-present discussion of accessibility of terrain parks versus the level of skier within the terrain park. 99% of NS should be educated on how to jump safely (ie: speed control) and know where it is safe to stop within a terrain park. however, 99% of the general skiing population is not as educated on these basic elements such as don't fucking sit there (out of site) on a jump landing.

here in washington this year (at stevens, crystal, mission ridge) ive noticed an increase in intermediate skiers undercutting features (cliffs, chutes, bigger lines uphill) with complete disregard on how dangerous they are making things for the advanced skier heading down the fall line. nothing ruins exiting a chute or bleeding speed after hitting a cliff like a traverse track or (worse) when some idiot is cluelessly motoring along without looking uphill.

imposing safety education classes on the masses would be unacceptable tyranny in their eyes. swearing and shouting usually gets their attention but not always the correct results. the surfing community is very good at making you aware if you are out of your element.
 
RIP

But should resorts really change their parks because of stuff like this. I have never seen ski patrol have to come into my hills park and put someone on that sled thing but it happens all the time on regular runs. My park does suck but that just makes it even more dangerous(rusty rails, top sheet flopping up) yet no one ever gets hurt in there.
 
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