Whistler Blackcomb (WB) is investigating an on-mountain accident last week that injured a Ski School instructor.
On Friday, Feb. 7, WB confirmed a 38-year-old coach was seriously injured on the job Jan. 28 while skiing in an alpine zone on a double-black diamond run.
“The entire Whistler Blackcomb team sends our sympathy and support to a member of our team who was seriously injured while skiing on the job,” said Belinda Trembath, Whistler Blackcomb’s COO, in a statement. “We are truly like family here at Whistler Blackcomb, and we are heartbroken that this incident occurred. The safety of our guests and employees is the most important thing to us, and we are conducting a comprehensive investigation of the incident.”
As a result, WB said it has restricted sliding in double-black terrain for certain types of Ski School lessons and instructor groups for the time being.
In a Jan. 31 internal staff email shared with Pique, a Ski School supervisor said the team is “reeling” from the accident, and that the Ski School “as a whole is looking into practices and terrain to hopefully avoid something similar happening to another one of our team.”
Fundraiser launched for 'caring, supportive' ski instructor
On Saturday, Feb. 8, after this story was first published, a GoFundMe campaign was launched in support of the injured ski instructor, Chris Song, offering more details on last week's life-altering accident. Campaign organizer and Ski School Kids manager Donna Kerr wrote that Song was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital, where he underwent multiple surgeries. His injuries reportedly include multiple broken ribs, a broken left shoulder and "an extremely serious" back injury that has resulted in paralysis from the waist down, wrote Kerr. Song is expected to be in hospital for approximately two months, before being transferred to Vancouver's G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre. Song's rehabilitation therapy could take upwards of a year.
"Chris will never walk again, and healing will take years," Kerr added. "His life and the life of his family will never be the same."
The campaign has a fundraising target of $75,000, money that will help Song's family cover several major costs, including the purchase of a wheelchair and creating an accessible environment for when he returns home.
"Chris and his wife Jieun have been a part of the Whistler Community for nine years. Their two young children are growing up in our Mountain Town attending school, learning to ski, bike, play soccer, do gymnastics, hiking, and so much more," Kerr wrote on the fundraising page. "It is our goal to ensure the Song Family can continue to enjoy this wonderful place we all call home while also supporting Chris in his long road to recovery."
"Anyone who has ever met Chris know how caring, supportive, and welcoming he is to everyone in our community. His students in our Snow and Bike Schools only speak positively about their experiences particularly how patient he is when teaching. Chris takes his time to guide and instruct each student at the level they are at with encouragement and positive feedback."
Donate to the fundraiser here.
Mountain safety
Trembath addressed the topic of mountain safety in a pre-ski season interview with Pique in November, wanting to “reassure locals we’re continuing to work very closely with our mountain safety team to provide a safe experience on mountain.”
On the Whistler side, crews made offseason improvements around Olympic station “to improve the experience for first-timers mid-mountain,” Trembath said at the time.
From changes designed to create better access to the Catskinner loading area on Blackcomb for “first-timers skiing the Easy Out trail” to connecting the top of the Excelerator quad to a new Catskinner Express trail, Trembath said mountain safety staff were “really innovative this summer in thinking about how skiers circulate” on Blackcomb. “It was particularly looking after those first-timers and low to intermediate skiers that want to avoid mixing with folks coming out of our signature terrain park area.”
That circulation has been hampered since Jan. 19, when Blackcomb Mountain’s Glacier Express chair went down due to a damaged gear box. In a Feb. 7 social media post, WB said lift maintenance crews have repaired the issue and the lift will begin running intermittently Saturday, Feb 8 as the gear box is tested and any final adjustments are made.
*This story was updated after publication to include information about the fundraiser launched Saturday, Feb. 8.
