A sad new statistic: in-bounds avalanche fatalities now equal total backcountry avalanche fatalities for the 2008/09 North American ski season, thus far. A total of six deaths related to avalanches have already acrued this season; disturbingly half of those have happened in-bounds at normally operating ski resorts. The three resorts affected by this unfortunate statistic are:

• Snowbird
• Squaw Valley
• Jackson Hole

On Saturday, Dec. 27th, the sixth avalanche fatality of the season occurred at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. According to reports, an in-bounds avalanche at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort buried and killed 31-year-old local skier David Nodine Saturday afternoon under eight feet of snow. A number of skiers witnessed the slide break loose and carry the victim and a companion down an expert trail named Paintbrush. The avalanche occurred at approximately 1:25 p.m. and carried the pair about 200 yards, leaving the victim’s companion unburied and uninjured.

The slab avalanche broke a crown six to eight feet deep, ski patrollers reported. Patrollers uncovered the victim quickly after they pinpointed his burial site and administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation, to no avail. Medical workers also attempted to revive Nodine using a defibrillation device, again without success. Adding to difficulty to grasp this tragedy, David had been wearing an avalanche beacon and was skiing on terrian that had been skied several times.

Nodine's death occured almost an hour and a half after the upper mountain at JHMR was opened for the first time in two days. Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport, however, for a six foot crown to bury and kill a skier eight feet deep in a commonly skied in-bounds run is deeply unsettling. Whatever the case may have been, this is just another tragic reminder that all skiers need to recognize and assume a high degree of personal responsibility for their actions and choices. Intelligently pick your lines, your partners and your gear — In-bounds & out.