Girl dies from sledding into fence recently installed to block sledders

A girl who died Tuesday while sledding on Mount Charleston crashed into a solid metal fence installed in the fall with the intent of making sledding safer by keeping people out of an off-limits area.

The girl, identified by the Clark County coroner as Vanesa Lara, 11, was flown to University Medical Center, where she died of heart injuries.

The coroner's office said the cause of death was cardiac tamponade, hemopericardium and aortic laceration. That means the impact tore her aorta, the largest artery in the body, and the sac around the heart filled with blood, preventing the heart from pumping. Such injuries typically occur from blunt-force injuries to the chest, such as those suffered in a car crash.

Jose Hernandez, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, said Vanesa was riding on the sled with another child, who was not injured, when they hit the fence. He said Vanesa's parents were with her on the mountain.

Police responded to the call just after noon Tuesday at the Meadows, an open space partly owned by Clark County. The site is not officially designated for sledding but is allowed. The nearby Foxtail area is designated for sledding but has less parking and is a U.S. Forest Service fee-for-use area.

Police officers at the scene Wednesday said Vanesa was sledding in the upper Meadows area and hit the end of a metal fence that was installed in October in the middle of the sledding area. There are signs posted in the area warning against sledding up-slope from the fence, said Erik Pappa, a Clark County spokesman.

"It's perfectly clear," he said. "It says, 'No trespassing beyond this point.' You're not supposed to be sledding up there. It's too dangerous."

Pappa said he didn't know why the county installed the fixed-steel fence rather than the more flexible plastic or wood barriers commonly seen at ski areas.

Sledders routinely ignore the signs, and were doing so on Wednesday even as police were on scene to investigate the fatal accident.

On a typical winter weekend, the crowds are heavy in the sledding areas on the mountain. Often, it is chaotic, particularly at the Meadows.

There are trees. Sometimes, if there is not a lot of snow, there are rocks and other debris. Some people with little experience in the snow go fast. They sled on objects not meant for sledding that lack steering controls or brakes.

Parking tends to be a mess, with some cars waiting in the driving lanes for spots to open along the side of the road. People have been known to sled right into the roadway.

It can get dangerous. Emergency personnel have said dozens of people are injured every month during the winter.

Two years ago, a tourist hit a tree while sledding and died. In 2006, a grown man on a sled hit a 3-year-old boy so hard the boy died of head injuries.

"You'll see people sledding on just about anything. From trash bags to trash can lids," said Justin Ebert, a Forest Service volunteer coordinator. "All sorts of objects people shouldn't be using."

He said sledders should be aware they can build up more speed going downhill than they might expect. This is especially true when the snow is hard-packed, as it is this week.

"No matter where you're sledding, it can be dangerous," Ebert said.

He said parents should be aware of the dangers before letting their children go sledding. Look for trees, rocks and other debris. Make sure the snow is at least a foot deep. Don't use any old object to sled on. And don't sled too close to the road.

Kevin Stickelman, the president and general manager of the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, said the resort plans to build a designated sledding and tubing area, but it is still years away.

In the previous legislative session, lawmakers agreed to lift some development restrictions on 33 acres of the mountain. Stickelman said they are now designing the area to include "a full-on tubing and sledding operation."

Once the design is complete, resort officials will need the approval of the Clark County Commission. Then they will need an entire construction season to build it, he said.

"We're looking at probably three years before the ski area will have anything," he said. "Meanwhile, the public is stuck with Foxtail and the Meadows."

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.