27-year-old Freeskier John Nicoletta died last Friday due to injuries sustained during a fall. John Nicoletta was competing on the first day of the Freeskiing World Championships at Alyeska Resort, Alaska. Nicoletta was 47th skier of the day. Local ski patrol reached Nicoletta quickly and evaluated his injuries before transporting to Alyeska Aid Room. John Nicoletta died one hour after the accident.
John Nicoletta lost his control after his 20-foot cliff drop (called Headwall) and and was propelled into a rocky area. His helmet was ripped off in one impact. According to Yahoo News, Terry Kadel, assistant emergency medical services chief for the Girdwood Fire Department saw Nicoletta’s fall. “It looked bad,” Kadel said. Seconds later, Kadel said, the fire station got a call for help, reporting that Nicoletta was not breathing and in cardiac arrest.
According to DogLotion.Com, A veteran freeskiing competitor, Nicoletta was an accomplished, well-known, and extremely respected athlete. An experienced skier, he has appeared in ski movies, been a featured athlete in television interviews and recently finished second at the Telluride Freeskiing Open in February 2008.
“People that were on scene that saw it said he just fell off the outcrop. The fall was huge. He was head over heels, essentially tomahawking all the way down the hill”, says Alaska state trooper Sgt. Bryan Barlow. Cause of death has been ruled as “massive blunt force trauma to the chest,” Barlow said.
The world championship free skiing competition was halted Friday after Nicoletta fell, but later in the evening they decided to continue the competition on Saturday. Extreme snowbaording and skiing competitions are risky and this kind of accidents happen every now and then. Last time a known freeskier died was in January as Billy Poole died while filming.
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