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Texas teenager’s death at Winter Park Resort the state’s 5th skier death of year

Outside the Denver Health East Grand Clinic at Winter Park Resort on Feb. 15.
Travis Poulin/ Sky-Hi News |

A 17-year-old woman from Texas died on Wednesday at Winter Park Resort after striking a tree. Alicyn Mitcham, of Colmesneil, Texas, was skiing on the Forget Me Not run in the Parsenn Bowl territory, according to the Grand County Coroner’s Office.

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.



The coroner’s office planned to conduct an autopsy on Thursday, Feb. 16.

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

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



This marks the fifth death at a ski resort in Colorado in 2017. On Feb. 10, 26-year-old Ricardo Cohen died at Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Cohen, of Mexico City, Mexico, died while skiing on the Volunteer run off Peak 9’s C-Chair Friday morning after slamming hard into snow, according to the Summit County Coroner’s Office. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Breckenridge Ski Patrol responded to the incident, but after on-scene medical care and evaluation, Cohen was pronounced dead.

Two other skier collision fatalities this season have also happened on advanced terrain at Breckenridge Ski Resort: 48-year-old Kevin Pitts, of Longmont, on Dec. 19 on the Alpine Alley run and 47-year-old Sean Haberthier, of Denver, on Jan. 12 on the Lower Boneyard run.

Another death this year occurred on Dec. 29 at Ski Granby Ranch in Grand County when 40-year-old Kelly Huber, of San Antonio, Texas, fell from the Quick Draw Express lift with her two young children after the chairlift bucked the three 25 feet to the ground due to a faulty part. Huber 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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