A ski patrolman caught in a Valentine’s Day avalanche in Mammoth Mountain died of the injury she suffered, resort officials said Saturday.
Claire Murphy is one of two patrolmen performing an avalanche mitigation in Lincoln Mountain after an atmospheric river wind storm dumped a 6-foot ski resort in 36 hours.
The area was closed by the public when the avalanche hit her patrol partner at about 11:30 a.m., but Murphy wasn’t that lucky.
“It was Claire Murphy, a Mammoth Ski Patrolman who shared the heart of the most important, who was hospitalized last Friday, who died of injury,” a statement was released on the resort’s website.
The Avalanche temporarily closed the resort and attracted support from the local skiing community.
According to the Orange County Register and Mammoth Ski Patrol post, Assn. Facebook page.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, an average of more than 20 deaths in avalanches in the United States each year.
Most of the victims were remote skiers and snowmobile bikers who took the opportunity on remote slopes without the ski patrol offer.
