A ski patrolman died on Tuesday when an explosive charge detonated while he was conducting avalanche control duties at California’s Squaw Valley Ski Resort, officials said.
Joe Zuiches, a married 42-year-old father of one, was killed in the incident at the top of the resort’s Gold Coast Ridge at 8:35 a.m., before regular operating hours, according to Andy Wirth, president and CEO of Squaw Valley Resort Holdings, which owns the Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows resorts.
“The whole team here at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows is so deeply saddened, profoundly saddened by this tragic loss,” Wirth told reporters during a press conference. “We’re a family and this impacts everybody on our team.”
Zuiches, who lived in Truckee, Calif., had been a member of the resort’s ski patrols since 2012 and worked as a training supervisor. He was “one of the best of the best,” Wirth said.
An investigation by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the North Tahoe Fire Department is ongoing.
Lt. Alfredo Guitron of the Placer County Sheriff’s Department said a team of explosive specialists responded to recover the undetonated ammonium nitrate charges, which were still on the mountain along with Zuiches’ body more than six hours after the incident, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.
Resort officials announced Wednesday that Zuiches’ body had been recovered Tuesday afternoon and is now in possession of the Placer County Coroner’s Office.
Snow avalanche blasting charges can be tossed by hand, deployed from a ski lift, tram, helicopter, avalanche launcher or remote control devices. Fuses on the devices should allow a minimum of 90 seconds from “ignition to detonation,” according to California Department of Industrial Relations guidelines cited by the newspaper. Federal regulations, meanwhile, require safety fuses be at least 30 inches long.
Rich Meyer, who worked with Zuiches previously as a guide on Mount Shasta, said Zuiches was an experienced and careful professional on the slopes.
“Joe was a great example of a guy who could lead a team to the top and back super safely,” Meyer told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
As a guide on the 14,179-foot peak, Zuiches would take clients to the top of the mountain using a variety of equipment, including crampons, ice axes, ropes and harnesses, Meyer told the newspaper.
“It is serious, steep, terrain,” Meyer said. “There are a lot of novices that are putting their lives in your hands.”
The Squaw Valley Ski Resort closed Tuesday after the incident, but will reopen Wednesday “in honor of Joe,” according to its website.
“The decision to operate Squaw Valley [Wednesday] was presented to the leadership of Squaw Valley Ski Patrol,” the statement read. “Revealing incredible strength of character and resilience of the men and women of our world-class ski patrol team, our patrol leadership asked that we run the mountain and do so tomorrow in honor of Joe Zuiches.”
A GoFundMe page established for Zuiches’ relatives had exceeded $94,000 as of Wednesday morning.
The ski resort has seen record-breaking snowfall of late, with a recent five-day total of more than 7 feet on the upper mountain. The total snowfall through January is a ”record smashing” 23 feet, with a season total of 31 feet, resort officials announced Monday.
Powder Magazine reports that Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows has seen more snow in January than any other month on record. On average, about 70 inches of snow falls there during January, compared to the 212 inches recorded in the first 20 days of this year, a 305 percent increase.
Zuiches’ death comes six years after another ski patrolled died at Squaw Valley while conducting avalanche control duties on March 3, 2011. Andrew Entin, 41, died after getting caught and partially buried in snow, the magazine reports.
