Wyoming’s Jackson Hole ski area in 2009 negotiated with the state’s division of OSHA over a citation connected to the falling death of a patroller in March of that year who was not wearing a helmet. OSHA too cited Wolf Creek for a helmet violation when patrol director Scott Kay was killed in an avalanche after throwing explosives without a helmet.
Jackson Hole began requiring helmets on some employees the following season, as did major resort operators Vail Resorts, Intrawest and Aspen Skiing.
Even though OSHA does not specifically require helmets on ski patrollers working avalanche mitigation, helmets do fall under OSHA’s general safety requirements for personal protection equipment, said John Healy, area director at OSHA’s Englewood office.
“From what I understand, there is no mandate from OSHA that patrollers wear a helmet, not to say there won’t be after this,” said Wolf Creek owner Davey Pitcher.
Ironically, avalanche beacons – considered by snow safety experts a necessity for travel in avalanche terrain – are not considered necessary under the same OSHA requirements, Healy said. Neither are Avalungs, a respiratory device that enables users to breathe if buried in an avalanche. Kay was wearing an Avalung, which Pitcher provides to all his snow safety employees, but did not have the device deployed when he was buried in the in-bounds avalanche that took his life.
Still, the near ubiquity of helmets today is not due to a from-the-top federal regulation, said Melanie Mills, president of Colorado Ski Country.
“It was more to do with resorts kind of feeling their way to the right place to be with employees and the public. It’s an evolutionary type of thing,” Mills said. “It’s got a grassroots kind of feel as more and more skiers are wearing helmets.”
Past OSHA citations and fines for ski areas
Most of these citations and fines were reduced or deferred after negotiations between OSHA and the ski areas.
2003: OSHA cites Vail Resorts for three violations totaling $128,250 in connection with the November 2002 death of a 28-year-old snowmaker who drowned in an underground snowmaking vault.
2006: California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health cites Mammoth ski area for several violations totaling $50,000 in connection with the April 2006 deaths of three ski patrollers who fell into a volcanic fumarole and were overcome by carbon dioxide.
2007: OSHA cites Crested Butte ski area for two violations totaling $67,500 in connection with the death of a grooming- machine operator.
2009: OSHA cites Aspen Skiing Co. for five violations totaling $20,900 after a 19-year-old snowmaker died after crashing a snowmobile on Snowmass in December 2008 and was not found until the next morning.
2010: OSHA cites Wolf Creek ski area for three violations totaling $17,000 following an investigation into the death of patrol director Scott Kay, who died in an avalanche while conducing avalanche mitigation work.
