A skiing patrol trapped in an avalanche of Valentine's Day in Mammoth Mountain died from the wounds he suffered, tourist authorities said on Saturday.
Claire Murphy was one of the two patrols that made an “avalanche mitigation” in Lincoln Mountain after a storm of the Atmospheric River threw 6 feet of snow at the ski resort in 36 hours.
The area had been closed to the public when the avalanche hit around 11:30 am, his patrol partner was extracted without hurting, but Murphy was not so lucky.
“It is with the heaviest hearts that we share the gigantic mountain ski patrol, Claire Murphy, who was hospitalized last Friday, died as a result of his injuries,” said a statement published on the resort website.
The avalanche closed the complex temporarily and attracted a lot of support from the local ski community.
The ski patrols of other tourist centers such as Bear Mountain and Palisades in Tahoe ran to be next to Murphy and helped complete Mammoth while the resort was preparing for an influx of skiers, according to Orange County Registry and the posts of Mountain Mountain Patrol Students of Assn's Facebook page.
On average, more than 20 people die every year in avalanches in the United States, according to data from the Avalanche Information Center of Colorado.
Most victims are journey and snow motorcycles that risk remote earrings that are not treated by ski patrols.
