S.F. green firm president killed skiing at Homewood resort

SF Chronicle ^ | Jan 28, 2008 | John Koopman

[RDTF]

(01-28) 12:52 PST LAKE TAHOE -- The president of a San Francisco green technology company was killed while skiing at the Homewood Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, authorities said today.

Tyler A. Palmer, 37, was found unresponsive at the base of a tree about 1:52 p.m. Sunday, the Placer County Sheriff's Department said.

Skiers found Palmer on the Hobbit Land ski run, head-first in the well of a tree. Hobbit Land is a black diamond run, signifying it is for advanced skiers, according to the resort's Web site.

Medics tried to revive Palmer, without success, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:28 p.m.

The Sheriff's Department said there was a light wind and snow was falling at the time of the incident. Palmer's death appears to have been an accident, authorities said.

Anyone who saw the accident is asked to contact the Sheriff's Department North Lake Tahoe dispatch center at (530) 581-6330.

Palmer was the founder and president of GreenMountain Engineering. According to the company Web site, the firm was established in 2003 in San Francisco. GreenMountain is a design engineering consultancy serving clean technology companies.

Before founding the firm, Palmer worked at Signature BioScience, a now-defunct biotechnology company in San Francisco, and at NASA, according to an online biography. He earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado, the biography said.

-snip-

[bray]

Died in his own Carbon Footprint

[RDTF]

young guy, too. Very sad.

[tflabo]

Must be an evil Weyerhauser tree.....employed by the greedy rich ski slope moguls.

[TASMANIANRED]

Ironic death...

[Slicksadick]

The odds of surviving a deep snow immersion/NARSID accident are low; especially if you are not with a partner. In two experiments conducted in the U.S. and Canada in which volunteers were temporarily placed in a tree well, 90% COULD NOT rescue themselves.

% of Tree Wells & Deep Snow
involved in NARSID cases

 

http://www.treewelldeepsnowsafety.com/

[RDTF]

more here:

http://cbs5.com/local/palmer.ski.accident.2.639754.html

-snip-

Placer County Sheriff’s Sergeant John Giovanini says 37-year-old Tyler A. Palmer was found upside down in a snow bank under a tree Sunday afternoon.

A passing ski patrolman helped dig him out and started CPR until paramedics arrived, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Palmer was declared dead at the scene about 45 minutes later.

Authorities say Palmer was skiing in bounds on an expert black diamond run. The weather may have made for low visibility.

His death is being called accidental.

-snip-

[Bender2]

Re: ...to do it with a minimal harmful footprint on the environment. There's nothing "liberal" about that, my Freeper FRiends...

"...harmful footprint on the environment..." tells me all I need to know about where you stand politically.

That's kind of a strange, 'Catch-22' warning bell phrase for someone on a supposedly Conservative Republican website, eh?

So excuse me if I take your opinions with a huge dose of Epsom Salt and really careful scrutiny before I consider them valid.

[Slicksadick]

Have a plan of what you will do if you go down. The following steps may help:

Resist the urge to struggle violently. In tree well experiments people found that the more they struggled, the deeper they sank and the more quickly they became immobilized.

Make a breathing space around your face. Then move your body carefully in a rocking manner Instead of panicking, try first to hollow out the snow and give you space and air.

Stay calm. Experts advise to stay calm while waiting for assistance as this helps conserves air and extend your time of survival. Hopefully, your partner will have seen you go down and will come to your rescue. If not, your chances of survival are improved if you maintain your air space.

[Cedric]

Too cynical to include a request for prayers?

[Tall_Texan]

At least his death was organic...

[Chode]

a tree finally hugged him back...

[So Circumstanced]

Ala Sonny Bono
Ala Michael Kennedy

There seems to be a pattern here of ansulary level political figures biting the dust in the same way.

A conspiracy theorist may want to examine for a fresh set of parallel snow ski tracks evident to each side of the tree.

Ouch. What a way to go.

[Not A Snowbird]

Trees are why I ski in the dead center of the run. And wear a helmet.

[porter_knorr]

When this happened to my brother (who survived), but when they find you at the base of a hill. Usually that means you lost control and went off the trail. In my brother’s case he fell over 50 feet.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Yes, they do.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Well said!

[The KG9 Kid]

Lake Tahoe is plug full of trees. See my FR home page.

As far as I know, if you want treeless resort skiing anywhere on this continent, Arapahoe Basin Colorado is about all there is.

[beethovenfan]

I hope he has one of them “green” burials.

[BunkDetector]

PLUS, he’s looking for “thoughtful” responses when we have a chance to mock a man’s death ‘cause we find his politics suspect.

Very strange.

[Krankor]

If anything actually destroys the environment, it’s ski resorts. Thousands of trees are destroyed as well as animal habitats- all in the name of recreation. Amazingly, greenies like this guy and countless greenie movie stars seem to be the most avid skiers.