Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ski resort reopens after avalanche tragedy

Mount Charleston facility shut down in early January

Skiers ride a chairlift at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort on Monday, the first day the Mount Charleston resort was opened to the public since an avalanche killed skier Brett Hutchison, 13, of Las Vegas on Jan. 9. Officials say they've implemented safety changes to lessen the risk of avalanche. Photo by Isaac Brekken John Payne, 70, pauses while removing his ski boots Monday after skiing at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort. Photo by Isaac Brekken

John Payne has been a skier for more than half of his 70 years. So when the avalanche-stricken Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort reopened Monday, he did what came naturally: He went skiing.

"I got off of work early," said the Las Vegas man, who first learned to ski at the resort in the late 1960s. "It was excellent. I felt very comfortable. It seems fine to me."

Payne was not worried about a repeat of the type of avalanche that roared down upon the Mount Charleston resort Jan. 9, sweeping 13-year-old Brett Hutchison to his death as he rode a ski lift.

"The avalanche came out of an area where they didn't have that problem before," Payne said. "You get enough snow on any mountain, something bad might happen."

Resort officials welcomed a steady stream of skiers and snowboarders onto the powder after implementing safety upgrades aimed at better protecting people from snow.

"It's all about ensuring safety for our guests and employees," said Brian Strait, the facility's general manager. "I feel confident we've reached that level."

"It was a very tragic situation. Our hearts are heavy and will be forever," Strait said. "We're real glad to be open again."

But an attorney for Hutchison's family was aghast the facility chose to reopen on Valentine's Day, adding that safety changes were too little, too late.

"Had they done this prior to Jan. 9, and prior to the avalanche, Brett Hutchison would be alive today and handing his mother a valentine, instead of his mother mourning him," said attorney Robert Murdock.

"It's a slap in the face," Murdock said. "What it really shows is the ski resort is interested in money."

Resort officials insist the avalanche was a fluke in a section of Lee Canyon where such problems have been rare. Strait noted the rush of snow took out trees that were hundreds of years old.

"That gives us a really clear picture of the unusual nature of an avalanche of that magnitude," Strait said. "Based on the fact it's happened once, the bottom line is we need to be prepared for it."

Murdock, whose own investigation is ongoing, said officials should have been expecting the unexpected in the first place.

"The snowfall in that time of year was also extraordinary. You have to take that into account when you do avalanche checks," he said. "You know these things can happen. The question is where and when. It's a science. It's not just shoot a cannon into the hills, call everybody up.

"They were saying it was God's fault. Now, they say they've made changes. I guess God made some changes," Murdock said.

Not so, said officials. "It's all part of looking at the overall operating plan of the ski area. It's not that we didn't have anyone with any training," Strait said. "It's the prudent thing to do."

Among the changes, the resort has retained Chris Stethem and Associates, a Canadian firm that specializes in avalanche and snow risk management and mountain safety. The company will have an adviser on-site for the remainder of the season, Strait said.

The resort's "avalauncher" snow cannon, which shoots explosives in snow packed areas to create controlled, pre-emptive avalanches, has been mounted to a sled so it can be moved to where it's needed.

Prior to reopening, the cannon had been at a fixed location where the avalanche threat was thought to be the greatest, and away from where January's avalanche took place.

"Hindsight is 20/20," Strait said. "I'm sure the people behind installing the tsunami warning system in the Pacific Ocean wish they would have put it in the Indian Ocean. The same, in general terms, applies here."

The resort reopened with only one of its two chair lifts operating. Two towers and an operating shed for one lift were destroyed by an avalanche, Strait said. Officials will not decide until after ski season whether to fix, replace or relocate it.

The shuttered lift was not the one ridden by Hutchison at the time of his death, Strait said. That lift was operating Monday.

Icchak Ziadman, owner of the nearby Mount Charleston Hotel, said he was relieved the resort was again open. "It's an excellent thing," he said.

Ziadman said during the shutdown, his hotel was virtually empty on some nights. Typically during ski season the occupancy rate ranges from 30 percent on weekdays to 95 percent on weekends.

"It was dead. We lost about 300 or 400 reservations in the last two weeks," he said. "Weekends should be full."

Skiers and snowboarders at the facility Monday seemed satisfied with changes and happy the resort was open.

"You learn from your mistakes. I feel they've learned from their mistakes," said snowboarder Brandon Reese, 21, of Las Vegas. "I'm more worried about hurting myself on my own."

During the shutdown, Reese was often driving to other ski areas in nearby states. "Oh God, I'm so tired of driving to Big Bear," a ski resort in California, he said.

Chris and Christine Hawkins of Las Vegas felt safe enough to bring their 3-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, to the mountain.

"I've been a skier all my life," said Chris Hawkins, 33. "It was great."

Ian Dewane, a 21-year-old snowboarder, also expressed no concerns. "I feel they know it's safe, or they wouldn't open it to the public," he said.

He didn't mind thin first-day crowds. "It just seems like there's more snow. Almost nobody's here, either. No waiting," he said. "I'm sure it'll be busier this weekend."

That's what Strait expects, too. "There's been a lot of pent-up demand in the valley for winter recreation," he said.

For the remainder of the ski season, adult lift tickets will be $28, down from a regular price of $38. Season passholders can either keep this year's pass and get a 50 percent discount on next year's pass, or return their pass for a 50 percent refund.

Ski season is expected to last until early to mid-April.