By Jim Stanford on March 14, 2009
Updated 3/15 with statement from resort, after jump
Kathryn Miller Hess
Ski patroller and climbing guide Kathryn Hess is in a coma following a fall yesterday south of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
Hess, 42, suffered a head injury and a broken clavicle and broken ribs after tumbling in the Spacewalk chute.
She was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, where doctors induced a coma to treat her head injury.
Her condition was said to improve somewhat overnight.
Also known by her maiden name, Kathryn Miller, she leads climbing and canyoneering trips for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides.
A Web site has been set up for updates: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kathrynmiller.
Statement released by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort:
(Jackson Hole, Wyoming, March 15, 2009) A Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Patrol employee was involved in a serious accident on Friday which has left her in critical condition at a regional hospital.
At approximately 11:00 a.m. two JHMR Ski Patrollers were skiing just south of the Resort boundary as part of their duties to assess backcountry terrain and conditions. Kevin Maloney had skied the steep couloir, known as Spacewalk, but his co-worker Kathryn Hess (nee Miller) became held up at a rocky outcrop halfway down. Kathryn fell while trying to ski past the rocks and proceeded to fall at a fast rate down the rest of the couloir.
Kevin Maloney immediately reported the incident and was joined by fellow patrollers who were dispatched from Rendezvous Mountain Patrol Station and a Teton Village Clinic physician who was in the nearby vicinity. They provided medical assistance and transported Kathryn through Rock Springs drainage via toboggan to the Teton Village Clinic, where she was stabilized prior [to] air ambulance transport to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
The helicopter departed Teton Village at 12:46 p.m. At this time Kathryn remains in critical condition at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
“Everybody at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has Kathryn and her family and friends in our thoughts and prayers at this time,” commented Jerry Blann, President, JHMR.
Posted under Deaths, Ski Resorts
Cant pull up the other site, where can you send donations? This is a perfect time to pull together as an outdoor community and help a fellow sister.
Thanks
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kathrynmiller
Not sure if the donations go to the site or what.
There is going to be a
fund-raiser 3/24 @ the Mangy Moose. Stay tuned.Update: Plans are in the works for a memorial service. Details will be announced at an appropriate time.
What a tragic moment. Our prayers are with you. Brice and Whitni