CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Police have identified the man who died while skiing at Sugarloaf ski resort on Thursday.
Carrabassett Valley Police Chief Scott Nichols said Friday that David Morse, 41, of Kingston, Nova Scotia, was visiting the area with his wife and two children.
Nichols told the Bangor Daily News that Morse died shortly after 5 p.m. in an ambulance that was taking him to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
Morse was skiing on the Lower Timberline Trail, a “green circle” or easier trail on the mountain’s west side, when he struck a tree shortly after 3:30 p.m. Thursday. It marks the first skiing fatality at the resort this season.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Morse’s body to determine an exact cause of death.
so sad….
I find it interesting that this poor guy died in an ambulance on his way to a hospital that is not a trauma center, while recently we have been reading numerous stories about life flight chopper rides to Bangor and Lewiston for people who are treated and released and who did not have trauma-related life threatening injuries.
I wonder if Lifeflight was flying yesterday? I’m not saying that is the reason, just asking.
they do not fly in bad weather it was snowing at the time of the accident .
Lifelight isn’t an after thought for these professionals. If it wasn’t used, it was for good reason.
Well atleast they have a trauma room at Franklin Memorial Hospital. perhaps they were hoping to stabilize him.
Maybe he was beyond stabilizing. The emt course I took said never let people know the person is deceased unless it is very obvious that they are.
The EMTs at Sugarloaf are top notch. They would not put someone in danger just to avoid a LifeFlight call, so put that out of your mind.
Science has shown that the vibrations of helicopters can intensify and worsen severe head injuries. The University of Maine is currently researching ways to better protect and stabilize head-injury patients in need of rapid emergency transport by air. Just saying.
As can riding in the back of an ambulance on the roads in maine.
In another news papers on line. When the ski patrol get to him he was conscious and alert he told the ski patrol that he cough an edge an lost control before hitting the tree. If there are internal injurys not much can be done till a person gets to the operating room. Ile say this agen if the weather was bad life flight dose not fly which the weather was bad yesterday because it was snowing at Sugarloaf at the time of the accident
I’m not a skier so I’m out on a limb here. When I watch proffessional skiers in major competitions on TV I see safety fences and other precautions taken. Granted they are going much faster than the civilians at Sugarloaf, but could more be done to avert these tradgedys? We only really hear about the worst accidemts, there must be many more.
No it can’t,, every sport has a risk
Not much you can really do. It’s like anything else, it comes with risks.
I’m an avid skier for 55 years. The trail he was on is a really easy trail, fairly wide, and had been opened with man made snow before the Thursday snowstorm so it had good coverage. He couldn’t have been going fast. This is just one of those freak accidents where he hit just the wrong way, sort of like you can say a fall off the second rung of a ladder isn’t far to fall, but if you fall the wrong way, you get seriously injured. Its too bad. Condolences to the family. Skiing has inherent dangers, even for the best skiers staying in control.
Thanks for the comment, be safe yourself.