RIP
Was she wearing a helmet? Are patrollers routinely required to wear them?
Don't know if she was wearing a helmet. Here are a couple more details from Jackson Hole radio:
A Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Patrol employee is in critical condition in Idaho Falls after she was involved in a serious accident south of the resort Friday morning. At approximately 11.00 am JHMR officials say two Ski Patrollers were skiing just south of the boundary as part of their duties to assess backcountry terrain and conditions. Kevin Maloney had skied the steep couloir, known as Spacewalk, but his co-worker Kathryn Hess became held up at a rocky outcrop half way down. Kathryn fell while trying to ski past the rocks and proceeded to fall at a fast rate down the rest of the couloir. After quickly reporting the incident, Maloney went to Hess’s aid. He was joined by fellow patrollers who were dispatched from Rendezvous Mountain Patrol Station and a Teton Village Clinic physician who was in the nearby vicinity. Together, they provided medical assistance and transported Kathryn through Rock Springs drainage via toboggan to the Teton Village Clinic where she was stabilized and placed in an air ambulance transport to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
As to patrollers and helmet use, here's a recent article from the International Journal for Consumer and Product Safety
Ski patrollers: Reluctant role models for helmet use
. Conclusion: "Ski patrollers know helmets reduce serious injury and believe they are role models for the public, but most do not wear helmets regularly."
Some resorts do require patrol to wear helmets while on duty but it seems most only encourage patrol to do so.
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