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Grand County coroner releases cause of death for Winter Park Resort skier

The Grand County Coroner’s Office has officially determined the cause of death for the skier that died at Winter Park Resort last week. Tawnya Bailey, Chief Deputy to the Coroner’s Office said that Alicyn Mitcham, 17, of Colmesneil, Texas, died of blunt force trauma to the head after striking a tree on the Forget Me Not run in the Parsenn Bowl territory at Winter Park Resort.

According to a press release from Winter Park Resort, ski patrol responded immediately after the accident and transported Mitcham to the Denver Health East Grand ER at the base of the resort, where continued efforts to revive her proved unsuccessful. No other skiers or riders were involved in the incident.

“Winter Park Resort extends its deepest condolences to the woman’s family in the wake of this tragic accident,” the press release stated.



Winter Park and Fraser police chief Glen Trainor said he did not believe Mitcham was wearing a helmet.

This marked the fifth death at a ski resort in Colorado this season. A 26-year-old man died at Breckenridge Ski Resort on Feb. 10 along with two other skier collision fatalities this season on advanced terrain at Breckenridge.



Another death this year occurred on Dec. 29 at Ski Granby Ranch when a woman and her two children fell 25 feet from the Quick Draw Express lift. The woman and her two daughters were raced to Middle Park Medical Center in Granby, before the youngest of her daughters, 9, was medevaced by Flight For Life to Children’s Hospital in Aurora. The two girls survived, while their mother succumbed to her injuries.

Nine people died while skiing or snowboarding in Colorado during the 2015-16 season, six of which occurred in Summit County. Four of those six Summit fatalities last year took place at Breckenridge, including the final three of the season — all in the month of April. The six in the county matched the same total during the 2013-14 season, and topped the four from 2014-15.

According to the National Ski Areas Association, a Lakewood, Colorado-based trade group representing the country’s resort owners and operators, there were 39 total fatalities nationwide last ski year.


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