An 11-year-old Massachusetts girl was killed by a deadly avalanche in backcountry terrain near a Utah ski resort last week, leaving her family and hometownremembering her as “sweet, sassy and smart.”
Madelyn Eitas, a sixth-grader from Rochester, Mass., was skiing with her family just after noon Thursday in an out-of-bounds area known as “Rock Garden” near Brighton Ski Resort east of Salt Lake City.
The family was skiing in an area not maintained or patrolled by the ski resort when an avalanche swept through.
Her brother, Cameron Eitas, and roughly 20 bystanders began digging her out as ski patrol and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue rushed to the scene,authorities told Salt Lake Tribune.
Ski patrollers from Brighton and Solitude, along with Wasatch Backcountry Rescue teams, were already working the scene by the time police began organizing a response just minutes after the 12:29 p.m. call.
It was her brother who ultimately located her, using an app to pinpoint her position beneath the snow, according to police. She was pulled out in critical condition as rescuers scrambled to stabilize her on the mountainside.
A medical helicopter was summoned but could not land because of hazardous conditions in the steep backcountry terrain, forcing crews to treat her at the scene before loading her into an ambulance for transport to a hospital.
“Despite the tremendous and exhaustive efforts of family, first responders and hospital medical staff,” police said in a news release, “the victim tragically passed away.”
Becky Eitas remembered her late daughter as “sweet, sassy and smart” and as someone who was “always dancing, smiling and being goofy.”
Mariner Youth Soccer, Madelyn’s sixth-grade travel team, paid homage to their teammate, as did Old Rochester Youth Soccer, which said it would dedicate its spring season this year to her memory.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
