Turoa fatality ‘avoidable’
Witness to cartwheeling incident says soft snow area should have been marked as hazard
Thomas Dobrisek’s fatal skiing accident on Mt Ruapehu could have been avoided by better management of springtime soft-snow hazards, a witness says.
Dobrisek, 50, an experienced skier from Wellington, died in Waikato Hospital on Monday. He was admitted to its intensive care unit on October 11 after crashing into a rock while skiing the exit track of Raceline, a black diamond run for advanced skiers at Turoa.
Paul McAlister was first on the scene with Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary, followed by Linsey Churton, after the trio witnessed the accident from the Giant chairlift just before 11 on a sunny morning. Dobrisek hit a rock, cartwheeled up to 20m and landed face-down in the snow among rocks. It is thought he lost his balance when he skied through a 300mm by 300mm hole in the snow.
After the trio helped the unconscious Dobrisek and he was sledded down the hill by snow patrollers, McAlister and Hillary filled in the hole with lumps of ice.
“I feel that the main trail out there should have been clearly marked as a hazard,” said McAlister, “and the divot [hole] that was on the trail should have been fixed before skiers actually got there.
“It’s not like he was skiing off trail. It’s a point of hazard because you’ve got all the rocks on the other side of the track.”
When McAlister went back up to the site a couple of hours after Dobrisek’s accident, he found the area had been marked as a hazard by the placement of crossed bamboo poles. If this had been done earlier, he said, the accident would not have happened.
Skifield owner Ruapehu Alpine Lifts has investigated and sent its report to WorkSafe NZ and the coroner looking into Dobrisek’s death.
Turoa safety services manager Brendon Nesbit said the Raceline exit track had been inspected at 9am on the day and no hazard was identified.
A witness who had skied that run before the accident had said there was no divot then. Nesbit said the divot might have resulted from someone moving a rock, but that was only speculation.
Chief executive Dave Mazey said the field was checked for hazards every morning and further checks made during the day.
Hillary said there would inevitably always be hazards in a mountain environment.
“I don’t feel we can apportion blame to anyone.”
Dobrisek, a toolmaker, was originally from Austria. He had a New Zealand passport and had lived here for about 12 years, a friend, who asked not to be named, said. His parents and other family members are due to arrive in New Zealand today. He did not have a partner or children.
The friend said he loved the outdoors and, as well as being an expert skier, was a paraglider pilot.
“He used to work in rescue and avalanche work in Austria. He used to have an avalanche dog. His level of skiing is pretty up there.”