A teenage girl, who struck a tree while skiing at Blue Mountain Resort on Tuesday, has died in hospital.
OPP confirmed on Wednesday that the 16-year-old succumbed to her injuries at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. The Toronto Ski Club has identified the victim as Erika Lamb, a ski racer from the Milton Heights Race Club.
According to police and Blue Mountain officials, the girl struck a tree on the Schuss run, around 1 p.m. on Tuesday. She was at Blue Mountain for a ski competition, but resort officials say the accident didn’t happen during a race. They also say the girl was wearing a helmet at the time.
On the race course for the ski competition there was safety fencing in place, but that type of precaution isn't taken for normal public runs like Schuss.
“We do fence runs for ski racing, but of course those individuals are moving at a much, much higher rate of speed, and we have an expectation of falls. There are rules associated with spill zones for ski racing, but not for the general public,” Paul Pinchbeck, vice president of marketing at Blue Mountain Resort.
The teen was taken to a Collingwood hospital before she was airlifted to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto with critical injuries.
OPP are investigating the exact circumstance of the crash, but say there is nothing criminal about the incident.
