Skier loses control, dies at Killington

KILLINGTON — A 27-year-old Massachusetts man tumbled to his death Sunday after losing control on one of Killington Ski Resort's most challenging trails.

Vermont State Police said Andrew Begley of Cambridge, Mass. apparently lost control while skiing on the Double Dipper trail, which is rated a "double black diamond" run.

"Our initial interviews indicate that the victim was a fairly experienced skier," said Lt. David Covell of the State Police. "From witness accounts, he was skiing on one of the more advanced trails and simply lost control."

Covell said Begley slid "a significant distance," going off the Double Dipper trail through a roped-off area where Killington snow guns were stored and into the Big Dipper trail before a tree stopped his slide.

"It looks possible that he may have collided with some equipment in that initial closed area he entered," Covell said.

Brian Connolly of Scituate, Mass., a frequent Killington skier, said he and several friends saw the end of Begley's slide, watching him rolling down the Big Dipper trail, apparently unconscious.

"We saw him tumbling out of control down the trail," Connolly said. "We saw him on the last several hundred yards. He was going at a very fast pace and obviously couldn't stop."

Connolly said that while several from his group summoned the ski patrol, he and a companion hiked up the mountain. They found Begley unconscious and seriously injured, with bruises visible on his head and on one leg where his ski pants had been ripped off.

Connolly said his friends later found Begley's skis lodged, facing downhill, in the hoses for Killington's snow guns.

"We had skied that trail several times that morning and as the day went on it started to get polished," he said. "When we found his pass, a Mount Snow pass, we speculated that maybe he didn't know the (Killington) trail.

There was a section there that was extremely icy so we could see how easily someone could get into trouble."He said it seemed likely Begley had fallen near the top of the mountain and slid, tumbling almost all the way to the bottom of that section of trails.

Covell said that because the accident happened prior to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the icy weather that blanketed the mountain that evening did not play a role.

"The conditions on that trail that day were frozen granular and hard packed," Covell said. "But there's no way to determine at this point if that was a factor."

Begley, who was pronounced dead on arrival at the Rutland Regional Medical Center, likely died due to blunt trauma, Covell said. He would not speculate about specific injuries, pending an autopsy.

"It appeared like he suffered a series of injuries resulting from the fall and the acts that followed," he said. "We're waiting for the autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death."

Covell said Begley seemed to have traveled to Vermont alone and that his next of kin had been contacted.

Tom Horrocks, a spokesman for the resort, said Begley's death was a "very unfortunate accident."

He said the Double Dipper trail had been machine-groomed the previous night and was rated a black diamond based on its steepness.

"It's mostly because of the pitch of it," he said. "We groom the trail to provide a smooth, even skiing surface."

Horrocks said the resort hasn't seen any more accidents on the Double Dipper than on any other trail.

"It was an open ski trail like every trail on the mountain. We don't see more accidents on any one of them," he said. "Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport and we ask everyone who comes to Killington and Pico to know the responsibility code for safe skiing."

Horrocks added that the resort incorporates safety messages in all of its trail maps and many of its signs and joins with resorts around the country to promote safe skiing in Ski Safe Week, the third week of January.

Neither Covell nor Horrocks could say for certain when the mountain last saw a fatal accident, but Covell said such accidents are "not very common."

A Middletown Springs, Vt., skier was killed in February 2003 after he skied into a rope stretched across a trail on Bear Mountain at Killington. Police said at the time that the man tried to duck under the 3-foot-high rope, but instead it caught him by his neck.

Covell said the investigation into Begley's death was "nearly complete." He added that a few more follow-up interviews might be needed after police receive the autopsy.

Thanks for the update. It was a very unfortunate accident.

It's been about ten years since I've skied Killington. My memory is telling me that there weren't any where near the number of double diamond trails on Killington peak as there are shown on the current map.

I skied most of the trails at Killington, and the only DD I recall is Devil's Fiddle. Is my memory wrong, or have these trails been uprated?

Well, as most skiers have seen, the ratings of trail difficulty can be somewhat arbitrary, or at least relative to the rest of the hill. Some DD trails on Killington would be single diamond or even double blues out west. Double Dipper is one of them. When one goes to Jackson, Snowbird, Alta (yes, in one month!!!) etc., they find out what a DD trail really is. ;-)

The Double Dipper trail was made about 10-12 years ago, when they put in the Canyon quad alongside the Big Dipper glade area. As you ski down, Big Dipper (has always been there) is skier's left of the chair, and Double Dipper is skier's right. They both have a nice, long, continuous, fairly steep pitch to them. Big Dipper is gladed area, and Double Dipper is a wide (50 yds?) slope. I'll often ski the extreme left edge of DD, right along the rope next to the chair and get decent snow.

The steeper pitches at Killington are probably Ovation (Ovulation to the locals), and the top of Fiddle which is never open anymore. Ovation is one of those trails where they'll open it, and then they close it because some people couldn't ski it, fell, and had a very nasty slide to the bottom. I have to admit, that management is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to these decisions, particularly when accidents like this happen.

BTW, Double Dipper was closed for the day after the accident. It was perfectly fine to ski on. Icy? Yes, very, but this is the east. Close icy trails and you might as well watch football.

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