MAMMOTH, Calif. — A month without snow turned Mammoth Mountain into a literal death trap — even for experienced skiers like Robert Carroll,the fourth person to dieat the California winter hotspot in three months, experts told The California Post.
The 40-year-old California nativewas killed last Thursdayafter attempting Dropout Chute 2, a double black diamond trail that plunges about 1,200 vertical feet and ranks among the steepest in California.
The run sports pitfalls and rocks even in the best conditions, but the mountain had not seen fresh snow in more than a month, making the surface icy hard-pack and exposing more of the jagged crags Carroll careened into after losing his skis.
“I’ve done Dropout 2, but never in these conditions. We haven’t gotten snow in a month. The snow gets harder-packed. It’s harder to turn. The rocks get shown more,” Mel Solorio, who works at a local ski shop, told The Post earlier this week.
Mammoth has since gotten a dump of fresh powder — 24 inches over the past three days, according to the resort’s snow report.
But the conditions last week proved fatal for Carroll — a world-traveling adventurist who had been to Mammoth many times before.
AReddit posterwho said they witnessed the fatal fall said Carroll attempted a jump off the rocks, struck another outcropping, and lost his skis, sliding headfirst down the slope before slamming his head on a rock.
The witness described Carroll leaving a visible blood trail as a companion screamed for help. It’s unclear whether he was wearing a helmet.
“He landed on his back and fell quite a distance, hit a rock that was in the area, and then slid quite a distance more down from there,” Sgt. Daniel Hansen told The Post Thursday. “It’s a pretty significant slope. Once your skis come off on a steep slope like that, there’s really no way to control yourself.
“It’s a very, very tragic accident. My heart goes out to the family and all of his friends and this ski and snowboard community as a whole. It’s sad.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
