Dalton teen dies in snowboarding accident
UNIONDALE — A 19-year-old Elk Mountain employee died Saturday after crashing into a tree while off-trail snowboarding at the ski resort in Uniondale.
Lackawanna County deputy coroner Joseph Swoboda said David M. Holgate, of RR 1, Dalton, was pronounced dead at Community Medical Center, Scranton, at 10:15 a.m.
Swoboda said the cause of death was severe head trauma caused by the accident. Holgate was not wearing a helmet, Swoboda said.
Elk Mountain Ski Resort general manager Gregg Confer said it is the resort’s policy not to release the details of accidents on the mountain. However, Confer said Holgate — a lift-operator at the resort — was found against a tree off one of the resort’s intermediate ski slopes just after the mountain opened at 9 a.m.
Confer said Holgate was snowboarding with a friend, and the friend found Holgate and alerted the ski patrol for assistance. He was taken to Community Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Holgate worked at Elk Mountain for two years, according to Confer. He was not working on Saturday.
“Our whole staff is saddened by it,” he said. “He was a very good kid. Our sympathy goes out to his family and friends.”
Holgate graduated from Lackawanna Trail High School in 2003 and was a member of the school’s ski club. State police in Gibson said they did not respond to the tragedy, and would only investigate the death if it was suspicious.
According to SkiHelmets.com, a Web site dedicated to providing the potential benefits of wearing ski helmets, only about 10 percent to 20 percent of all skiers and snowboarders wear helmets.
Winn Matthews, owner of Idlewild Ski Shop in Uniondale, said his shop sells about 300 to 400 helmets each year. He said he has witnessed an increase in the number of skiers and snowboarders wearing helmets.
“The only drawback I see in them is that they sometimes impair hearing while you are wearing them,” he said. “They’re warm, they’re comfortable, they fit well and they offer a degree of protection.
“You never know if you can prevent a death with a helmet, but there are brain injuries and fractured skulls that can be prevented.”
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