{"id":804052,"date":"2020-02-11T09:20:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T16:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=378863"},"modified":"2020-02-11T09:20:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T16:20:19","slug":"cause-of-steamboat-skiers-death-asphyxiation-coroner-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/cause-of-steamboat-skiers-death-asphyxiation-coroner-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Cause of Steamboat skier\u2019s death asphyxiation, coroner says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/PublicSafetyWebCard-SDN-1024x638.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014&nbsp;Frank Maimone died Saturday, Feb. 8, as a result of asphyxiation due to a headfirst fall into a tree well while skiing at Steamboat Resort, according to Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg.<\/p>\n<p>There was no trauma to his body, Ryg said.<\/p>\n<p>The 53-year-old man from Philadelphia was discovered unresponsive at approximately 3:25 p.m. at the bottom of Shadow Glades, according to Loryn Duke, director of communications for Steamboat Ski &amp; Resort Corp.<\/p>\n<p>Steamboat Ski Patrol was on scene at approximately 3:30 p.m., she said, and advanced life support was administered all the way to UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, where Maimone was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n<p>It is hard to determine how long he was in the tree well, Ryg said, or the exact time of death.<\/p>\n<p>Duke was not able to provide information about whether Mamione was skiing alone or who first discovered him.<\/p>\n<p>Mamione\u2019s death is the first ski-related death at the resort this season, Duke said.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Tree well safety<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>According to the National Association of Ski Areas, a deep snow, or tree well immersion accident, occurs when a skier or rider falls into an area of deep unconsolidated snow, becomes immobilized and suffocates.<\/p>\n<p>The resort has received 42 inches of new snowfall since an intense snowstorm hit the area Thursday, Feb. 6.<\/p>\n<p>Here are tips for skier and boarders to follow when skiing in areas of deep powder around trees. The information was compiled from Steamboat Resort and Colorado Ski Country.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Often, a skier or snowboarder falls into the tree well headfirst.<\/li>\n<li>You should avoid skiing or riding close to the base of trees if possible, especially in deep snow or windblown snow conditions.<\/li>\n<li>If you begin to fall into a tree well, try and grab onto the tree or a branch to prevent yourself from falling further into the tree well.<\/li>\n<li>If you cannot prevent yourself from falling in, try to roll over and to stay upright instead of head down as you fall.<\/li>\n<li>Try to keep your arm above your head to create an air pocket. Use a rocking or wiggling motion to try and create more space and move towards an upright position.<\/li>\n<li>If skiing\/riding in deep snow or near trees, stay with a partner and remain in visual contact.<\/li>\n<li>Stay close enough to either pull or dig out your partner.<\/li>\n<li>If your partner becomes immersed, first try to clear an airway, then call Steamboat Ski Patrol,&nbsp;<strong>970-871-5911<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>To reach Kari Dequine Harden, call 970-871-4205, email&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:kharden@steamboatpilot.com\">kharden@SteamboatPilot.com<\/a>&nbsp;or follow her on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KariHarden\">@kariharden<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/cause-of-steamboat-skiers-death-asphyxiation-coroner-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014&nbsp;Frank Maimone died Saturday, Feb. 8, as a result of asphyxiation due to a headfirst fall into a tree well while skiing at Steamboat Resort, according to Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg. There was no trauma to his body, Ryg said. The 53-year-old man from Philadelphia was discovered unresponsive at approximately 3:25 p.m. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-804052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-23 02:55:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}