Posted on 02/06/2008 5:03:42 PM PST by Perdogg
Former ABC News correspondent John McWethy was killed when he skied into a tree at Keystone Resort Wednesday, the Summit County Coroner confirmed.
McWethy, 61, was skiing on an intermediate trail when the accident occurred. Witnesses said he missed a turn and slid chest-first into the tree shortly after 10 a.m
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxcolorado.com ...
He was a tall dude. I saw him at the Pentagon after 9-11.
Skiing into a tree and dying as a result seems to be a common event, both for celebrities and personal acquaintances.
BTW, why is he a “former” reporter? Did he retire early?
This is exactly what happened to Sonny Bono about this time of the year nine years ago, isn’t it?
we found the same pic :-)
I assume President O’Bammy will direct the CPSC to mandate air bags on all trees in ski resorts.......
He retired from ABC not too long ago. He was recently working as an advisor to the war college in Leavenworth, Kansas. Media relations perhaps?
At least he was doing something he loved (just prior to hitting the tree anyway).
Beatcha...
I often wonder how I never was killed hitting a tree whilst skiing in my youth. A friend of mine hit a tree at 60 MPH and literally came out of his boots. He was in the hospital for a year. Dangerous stuff. I hope Mr. McWethy didn’t suffer.
*Death Cookies- (For you non skiers)can be described as ice nodules buried in the snow. Snow melts from tree branches, sometimes very high growing branches that overhand trails. When night comes, the drippings freeze and form caps of ice that if hit, can cause a skier to lose balance and hit the trees before he/she can recover balance.
I don’t know for sure, but this is a possibility.
Yep - ‘Zackly.....and one of the Kennedy Clan also.
Well, he is dead.
Hmmm, that’s interesting and sounds plausible. I never ran across anything like that, for which I am grateful.
Good grief!! It does seem this is a most dangerous sport.
DO ANY OF THE CANDIDATES SKI????
Sonny Bono and the sexual creep Michael Kennedy.
Well that’s one hell of an omen. That’s where my family and I are skiing tomorrow and this weekend
Right after his mandate to make all trees nonflammable so our furniture won’t burn.
You are right, of course.
I had a simple wipeout at around 65mph once; no serious injuries but my face was scraped up and I'm not sure my left hip will ever be quite the same. I can't imagine hitting something solid at that speed.
Well, if you lose an edge at 40mph you're going to slide 58 feet in the next one-second. I ski way closer to trees than 58 feet. Of course if you have a tendency to stick like a 'yard dart' when you fall... you have another problem. I get the idea he was an experienced skier and doubt he was wedging down Schoolmarm. Then again he wasn't charging down a bowl in the Outback either since he hit a tree. :-)
OK, time for a speed limit on skiers. 15 mi/h enforced by radar.
Carelessness, lack of skiing ability and skiing on not so safe terrain......
Even having skiing ability is not a guarantee when skiing around trees, which are considered not so safe terrain.
I guess the bottom line here is that accidents happen to everyone, thats why "accident" is in the dictionary.........
Okay, that made me spit out my drink. So many adventures in skiing.
Waiting for all the jokes that Sonny Bono generated when he did the same thing...what? There won’t be any? You have to be kidding.
Where did this occur and how were you able to attain this speed?
"I had a simple wipeout at around 65mph" 'Simple' makes it sound routine. Maybe you should find another sport. I've been skiing for 40+ years and 65mph wipeouts aren't simple. Replacing your powder jacket is expensive too! :-)
Be careful out there FRiend! I always keep an eye out for high speed skiers and boarders. You can’t depend on the Ski Patrol to defend you out there. You can, and should, report people to the Ski Patrol if you observe them being reckless. Take a good description of the offender, a photo if you can, and tell the nearest official you can find- lift operator, courtesy patrol, instructor, etc. Stay with your kids (if they will let you) and keep an eye on them. There are people out there who make a game out of harrassing young kids.
PS THANK YOU for coming to Colorado for your ski vacation!
I’m sorry to hear about his accidental death. Same for Sonny Bono and many others.
As an individual who has skied Summit County since the 70’s, I offer this only as an idea as to why so many people are killed on the slopes.
We didn’t wear helmets and I don’t think they provide as much protection as they do a false sense of security...not to mention a reduction in hearing ability.
Skis were long, 210’s were the standard that skiers shot for...the longer the ski, the better the control, but you had to spend time learning how to use them. Steep and Deep.
Today’s ski technology makes it easier for people to get down the mountain without actually learning how to ski properly.
I don’t know whether McWhethy was an experienced skier or not...and as I said before, I’m sorry about his demise.
We used to ski the treeline all the time because that’s where the best snow is. My point is that I believe that today’s technology overloads an individual’s ability and confidence level.
Just sayin’.
"I guess the bottom line here is that accidents happen to everyone, that's why "accident" is in the dictionary........." So true. A hundred years ago just being 14,000 feet above sea level in the winter was a life and death danger. Now we stop and have a couple of peppermint patties, chase snow bunnies and make dinner reservations from our cell phones before charging 4,000 feet downhill in 90 seconds. :-)
John Fleetwood McWethy, correspondent for ABC News 1979-2003 (National Security Correspondent 1985-2003). In Pentagon the day it was hit by hijacked passenger plane. For ABC News, covered military, terrorism, diplomacy and intelligence. Lead correspondent during war in Afghanistan and Iraq. White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report 1977-79; Science Editor 1972-77. Winner of five Emmy awards, one Dupont, one Overseas Press Club Award. BS 1969 (and 2003 honorary doctorate) from DePauw University, Greencastle, IN. MS 1970 from Columbia University Pulitzer School of Journalism.
Retired from ABC News July 2003. Special Correspondent for ABC News 2003-2006. Senior Advisor to U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, 2005-present. Moderator News and Terrorism program, jointly sponsored by Department of Homeland Security, National Academies of Science and Radio Television News Directors Foundation, 2004-present.
References: ABC News, Whos Who in America, DePauw University, Columbia University, etc.
Actually the typical skier fatality is an intermediate to advanced level skier. That only makes sense since beginners tend to ski slower and stick to the groomed, wider trails.
-PJ
Where did this occur and how were you able to attain this speed?
It was in Snowmass, Colorado. I didn't know my speed at the time, but I later skied at what felt like (almost) the same speed with a GPS unit that tracked speed, and it indicated a max speed on the run of about 65mph. It was on an intermediate (blue) trail; those are where I can get going the fastest, since on the steeper trails you can't go that fast and expect to stop in one piece. As far as how I got going that fast...well, I just turned the skis downhill and made only minimal, shallow turns. You have to make a few light turns to stay in control, and the tiniest little bumps in the snow tend to send you airborne, but it can be done.
As far as the wipeout itself - I was bumping along just fine, enjoying the breeze and trying to stay on the ground, when my right ski abruptly released. No idea why; there wasn't much stress on it at the time and my bindings are always set really tight. But as fast as I could realize that my right ski was gone (felt it come off), my face hit the snow. The left ski was just a hair slow releasing, so I fell forward while twisting to my right (since my right leg was yanked back). It did release, though, while giving my left leg a good sharp twist. It felt like my left hip had dislocated, although I think it stopped just short of actually doing that. I hit the snow face first at 65mph, which instantly pulled my goggles down around my neck. The goggles were responsible for the cuts and scrapes on my face, including one rather deep gash on my forehead.
Mostly I was just hoping that I'd be able to stand up, and that my hip wasn't broken or badly dislocated. Turns out I was fine and managed to ski in to the condo (it was the last run of the week anyway). But my hip has never been quite the same; it just feels like the joint isn't quite as solid as it was. It all happened about 4 years ago.
A few years ago, I went to a professional conference in Reno.
They offered an evening bus trip to Lake Tahoe; never having been, I went. The bus driver was great, telling us about what we were seeing around us.
When we got to Tahoe, he pointed out the ski slope where Sonny Bono died. Very solemnly, he said “And up there, on one of those trees, is a brass plaque. It says......
‘I got you, Babe!’”
I am an expert skier, I have been skiing for many years, but I take a lesson every year, and especially if I go to a mountain/resort that I have never skied.
Local conditions are always different. For instance, skiing in the East is way different from the West (big wide trails), and weather conditions always change in odd ways.
Skiing with a careless attitude has been the end of many a skier. When doing a run near trees in the West, I would always expect that a rock or a Death Cookie could ruin my day, so I don’t do that.
However, no matter how careful you are, conditions or erratic people on the slopes can make you change directions and angles when at speed, you might not be able to recover from.
btt
John Kerry did.
While skiing in early 2004, he collided with one of his Secret Service agents and called him a "son of a bitch", if I remember correctly.
The only reason I ask is that I have had some experience in skiing in my lifetime and I know that one's perception of speed is not equal to the reality.
For what its worth, the average max speed for a women's downhill race is approx. 80 mph and that is on slopes with an approx. 1100 meter drop. In other words, a downward slope around 50 to 70 degrees (which is pretty darn steep). And it would also require constant acceleration over at least a quarter mile to reach that speed...........
I know you think you were really going fast but on an intermediate slope it would be very difficult (impossible) to attain a world class speed of 65 mph...........
Nevertheless, when you are really cruising and catch an edge and do a header, there's really no difference between 15 mph or 65 mph. The only thing that changes is the distance you slide while you are eating snow......... LOL!
The Ultimate, Classic, Face-Plant. Ouch! You were lucky that day, my FRiend.
"Where did this occur and how were you able to attain this speed?" I have no certainty that I have ever hit 65mph for any extended period of time. It's why I said there are no 'simple' wipeouts at 65mph. You really don't have much opportunity to hit those speeds on a groomed trail, unless you hang back at closing the hill and come down with the ski patrol. Navigating through that many skiers without hitting one of them is next to impossible.I didn't have any idea what my speed had been like until I took the GPS unit along, although I had been very curious.
I know you think you were really going fast but on an intermediate slope it would be very difficult (impossible) to attain a world class speed of 65 mph...........
On multiple runs down the trail the GPS unit consistently reported peak speeds well above 50mph, and on the run that subjectively felt the fastest (by quite a bit), it registered 64.1mph as I recall. I'm open to being convinced that I'm wrong, but the GPS would have to be off as well, on multiple tries.
Snowmass (the site of my wipeout) has never been all that crowded when I've been there (not many times), and the day we did the GPS runs was a nice slow day (below zero temps) at Copper Mountain.
Thanks for the advice and, P.S., love your state!!!
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