Bend man dies skiing at Bachelor

Published 4:00 am Monday, January 14, 2008

UPDATED at 11:15 a.m. – A 27-year-old Bend man died Sunday at Mount Bachelor after hitting a tree.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office identified the man this morning as Scott Nicholas Hackett.

The incident occurred on what is referred to as the back side of the mountain, accessed by the Summit Express Chairlift, said Mt. Bachelor General Manager Matt Janney.

Hackett was skiing through an area of dense trees with at least two friends, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputy Rhett Hemphill said. The snow was packed and icy in spots.

Around 12:30 p.m., Hackett lost control and struck a large tree, Sheriff’s Deputy Troy Gotchy said. He was not wearing a helmet.

A witness dialed 911, and ski patrollers made it to that spot on the mountain. Witnesses and ski patrol personnel tried performing CPR for about 20 minutes, but Gotchy said Hackett died at the scene.

Air Life, the emergency helicopter service, was initially called out, then canceled.

Sunday evening, Mount Bachelor ski patrollers gathered in the medical building near the West Village Lodge to review the situation as the sun set and other skiers headed home from the mountain.

The investigation is continuing.

There have been a number of deaths at Mount Bachelor in the last decade.

The most recent one happened in January 2006. Cameron Joseph Sharp, an 18-year-old Myrtle Creek resident, died when he was run over by a massive snow-removing vehicle in the West Village parking lot. Sharp had decided to stay the night in the lot in his sleeping bag, and the vehicle’s driver didn’t see him.

In 2004, Shelley Glover, a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s Alpine Development Team, died in an accident on Mount Bachelor. Glover, 17, from Madison, Wis., fell on the Coffee Run while skiing over small moguls. She missed her timing and fell on her face. Glover was wearing a helmet.

The same year, 10-year-old Keenan Foisset, of La Pine, died from head injuries. He was attempting a jump in one of the ski area’s terrain parks but landed awkwardly on his skis and fell backward.

In 2002, 22-year-old snowboarder Kate Svitek, of Bend, disappeared during a day on the mountain with friends. Later, her body was found in a tree well, where she had fallen and then suffocated. Svitek worked as a Mt. Bachelor ski area ticket attendant.

In 1999, a 20-year-old La Pine man died after he apparently was struck in the head by a downhill skier. Travis Vandehey, of La Pine, was pronounced dead at the scene.

And, the same year, 28-year-old Jason Craig Redlener, of Bend, died of massive internal injuries after a cartwheeling fall on Mount Bachelor. He was wearing a helmet.

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