Extreme skier killed while making video
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REBECCA HAMM Times Argus - Published: February 16, 2005
CAMBRIDGE — A Vermonter filming an extreme-skiing video at Mount Mansfield was killed Monday when a fluke avalanche pushed him off a cliff.
Vermont State Police said Alec Stall, 23, of Stowe died after falling 500 feet from a cliff on Vermont's highest peak at about 3 p.m. Monday. Rescuers reached him at about 4:30 p.m.
He was skiing with four men from Meathead Films, a Burlington company dedicated to filming extreme skiing in the Northeast.
Stall went on a ski lift at the Stowe Mountain Resort and hiked out of bounds with three of his friends to shoot photographs and a video.
The four young men were in an area known as Lake of the Clouds, according to Stall's companions. They told investigators that Stall had skied down a "chute" formation on the side of the mountain and then fell at the bottom of the chute.
He was about 30 feet from the edge of the cliff when he fell. According to authorities, as Stall was trying to get up, snow came down the chute and pushed him over the edge.
Two of Stall's companions hiked down to him while the third sought help.
Stowe Mountain spokesman Jeff Wise said the four had season passes at the resort.
"They rode the lift to wherever they were hiking to," he said, adding that the four didn't notify the ski resort and went beyond marked trails on their own.
Wise said many extreme skiers who videotape themselves are looking for the "first descent" — to be the first to ski dangerous terrain.
A Web site dedicated to Meathead Films indicates that Stowe is the company's "home resort," but it films at other ski areas throughout New England.
The Stowe Hazardous Terrain Team responded to the call Monday, along with about six people from the Stowe Ski Patrol.
Neil Van Dyke of the Hazardous Terrain Team, was in charge of the search for Stall. He said about 12 rescuers traveled up through Smugglers Notch by snowmobile and were able to hike up to the site where Stall fell.
"It's not unusual to go out to get backcountry skiers, but the terrain where they were was more extreme than most back country skiers could handle," he said.
In the 25 years that I've been doing this, this was the first time someone has died on that area of the mountain," Van Dyke said.
He emphasized that avalanches aren't something that most people associate with Vermont. But on that area of Mount Mansfield, he said, it is not uncommon.
Stall recently moved to Stowe from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
An untimely death investigation is being conducted by Vermont State Police. Results from the autopsy are pending.
"Learning from tragic experiences is very important," Wise said. "What happened yesterday should be a serious reminder for those who are backcountry skiing, extreme skiing. It's a very volatile environment and even the most experienced skiers can wind up extremely injured."
Van Dyke added, "These were highly experienced skiers. When you go onto terrain like this sometimes you get spanked by Mother Nature."
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