New Year’s Eve brought great sadness to Skibowl when a skier died during a
night skiing accident.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., ski patrol was notified that Brian Fletcher, 37, of
Medford was skiing with friends when he caught an edge and fell on a ski run,
according to Skibowl public relations spokesman Hans Wipper.

Ski patrol and American Medical Response personnel were unable to revive
him.

“We are deeply saddened by this accident and our thoughts and prayers are
with the family,” Wipper wrote to The Mountain Times in an email. “The run
was appropriately designated as a Black Diamond (most difficult). The
presence or lack of signage had no bearing on the accident as he caught an
edge and fell.”

However, Andrew Fletcher, the father of the skier, wrote in an email to The
Oregonian that his son was an excellent and cautious skier with many years of
experience. He questioned whether the signage on the mountain was
adequate near the intersection of the two trails.

In his email to the MT, Wipper cited the Duties of Oregon Skiers that apply to
the situation.

Duties of Skiers under Oregon Law (ORS 30.985):

– Skiers shall be the sole judges of the limits of their ability to meet and
overcome the inherent risks of skiing and shall maintain reasonable control of
speed and course.
– Skiers shall familiarize themselves with posted information on location and
degree of difficulty of trails and slopes to the extent reasonably possible
before skiing on any slope or trail.