A skier has died after crashing on Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire, in hazardous weather conditions. The accident, which happened on January 25, was the second fatality in the ski area within a week.
The skier, who has been identified as 21-year-old Ben Bennett from the nearby town of Raymond, was reported missing after becoming separated from his friends for an hour and a half.
As local news site Seacoast Current reports, he was found by ski patrols in the woods near the Upper Ravine Trail. Although he was wearing a helmet, Bennett had suffered severe trauma, and had sadly passed away before he was found.
According to Boston.com, Bennett was an experienced skier, but hazy conditions on the mountain had made skiing hazardous.
"[Ben] was the kind of person who was always in a good mood and always projecting that onto everyone else," Bennett's friend Lucas Pitkin told New Hampshire news site WMUR. “He really did bring out the best in people."
Bennett was the second young person to die in the New Hampshire ski area within a week. Just three days before, a 15-year-old high school student died after colliding with rocks and trees while skiing off-piste.
Sydnie Quimby was also wearing a helmet according to the Laconia Daily Sun, but died from a head injury after leaving the Derringer trail at Gunstock Mountain Resort.
"This is a sad loss for our community," said Anthony Sperazzo, principal of Quimby's school. "Students were informed of this loss during first block by their teacher. We are working diligently to support our students, staff and some families."
