A nine-year old who was critically injured at Nakiska resort is a member of a ski racing program, according to a spokesman for the resort.
The girl was found unconscious and unresponsive around 1 p.m. after she likely crashed into a tree.
“It’s a very, very sad day for our team,” said Matt Mosteller, spokesman for the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, which includes Nakiska. “It’s so horrible.
“I can’t even fathom what the family is going through.”
Mosteller said the young girl is a member of a race program at the mountain.
“They were out there doing their training — not on the race course, though,” he said. “It was just a ski day. They go ski around the mountain and have fun.”
It’s not known exactly what happened, but Mosteller said it’s a good program.
“Those teams have really good care, they have really great coaching staff as part of their programming, a lot of their program is safety messaging — safe skiing and protocol — and they all have helmets so they are all geared up,” he said.
It’s believed the girl’s helmet came off in a collision.
EMS said Sunday she was found on the hill by other skiers, who notified Nakiska ski patrol. They initiated CPR and then moved her off the hill to their medical facility.
Paramedics from Kananaskis met the patrollers at the bottom and asked STARS to attend. They “aggressively treated the patient at the scene, before flying her in critical condition to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.”
There’s been no update on the girl’s condition on Monday.
