Who do celebrities die disproportionately in skiing accidents?

It isn't a sport. It isn't glamorous.

Throwing yourself down a hillside in an uncontrolled manner is asking for death.

"Throwing yourself down a hillside in an uncontrolled manner is" not skiing.

They don’t. You just never hear about the other deaths. Big Skiing covers them up.

Someone goes on a ski trip and disappears without a trace. Body dissolved in a vat of acid. Poof!

Skiing is safe fun..

Natasha Richardson didn't really die in a skiing accident, though. It was more like a fall that occurred while she was taking a beginner's skiing lesson. Technically, I guess, it was a skiing accident, but it's not like she ran into a tree like Sonny Bono or Michael Kennedy.

It's an expensive sport unless you live in a ski area. I expect [italic]rich[/italic] people die disproportionately in skiing accidents, so, by extension, would celebrities (yes, I know they're not all rich).

R1 has never experienced the thrill of the slalom, the crisp cold air, and the hot men who enjoy the sport... and yes, it is a sport. You have to be in shape, coordinated, and learned to ski. It's not snowboarding after all.

That said, the reason so many celebrities die in skiing accidents is because they don't take the dangers seriously. They (as most inexperienced skiers will tell you) think it's just strapping boards on your feet and letting gravity do its thing. They really should require some sort of licensing or proof that you know what you're doing before they let you slide of the face of a cliff.

And let's not forget Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, who nearly lost his head in Beaver Creek, Colorado, when he skied into a cable being raised to hoist a finish line banner.

Is a skiing accident the new slang for a coke overdose?

They especially cover up all of the homeless people who die skiing. It’s a real problem, but celebrities steal all of the limelight.

OP you named 6 people from various decades. What is the evidence that supports your premise?

[quote] The National Ski Areas Association reported 42 fatalities in 2019-20, which is slightly above the 10-year national average of 39 deaths a year.Apr 30, 2021

Are 30 celebs killed per yr on the ski slopes?

I've heard from richer friends who grew up skiing that if you don't start skiing while you're a kid, you never become really good at it. Maybe some celebrities get rich as adults and take up skiing later, so they don't really know what they're doing.

R11 My older sister started skiing when she was 6 or 7. At the time when she was in elementary school, ski clubs were formed at schools and families of students who were joined were given discounted season passes. She was in ski club for a few years and got really good at it. When I entered elementary school, the ski clubs had disbanded. I was 10 or so when I tried skiing and I never got good at it and gave up on it. My sister does a couple of ski trips a year. When she was with her ex-husband, he tried several times to learn ski, but could never get it.

R6 Are you the connoisseur skier who was complaining a few days ago about a dog excreting on your 'groomed' path?

[quote] It's an expensive sport unless you live in a ski area

This man pays 17.3 million British pounds to live in a ski area.

The National Ski Areas Association reported 42 fatalities in 2019-20, which is slightly above the 10-year national average of 39 deaths a year. Apr 30, 2021

Are 30 celebs killed per yr on the ski slopes?

Celebrities and rich people and royalty and wannabes may hang out near the ski fields.

But not many do that actual 'throwing themselves down a hillside in an uncontrolled manner'.

Don’t forget Michael Schumacher. Technically not dead but…

It is a hobby for affluent people. That is why.

You can ski at a mall in the middle of the desert.

Michael Kennedy was playing “ski football” when he slammed head first into a tree.

Hey, we survived!

R6

[quote] yes, it is a sport

The Oxford Dictionary defines sport as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or a team competes against another or others for entertainment"

I define the most crucial aspect of skiing as 'throwing yourself down a hillside in an uncontrolled manner which can easily lead to death. One doesn't compete to give entertainment to others. It is essentially self-gratification competing against the superior force of gravity in order to avoid death".

And didn't a Dutch royal son/brother become a vegetable after a ski accident?

When I was 11 I went skiing on a school trip (would that even happen today?) and I hated it, it was terrifying.

I have a well-off friend who goes skiing with his family and his young son broke his leg, it was a spiral fracture and his entire leg was in a cast. It's such a dangerous activity, there are other winter activities that are low-risk, but they don't have the same cachet as downhill skiiing, I guess.

[quote] It isn't a sport. It isn't glamorous.

it can be very glamorous when you are in a nice place. And it is a sport when done correctly with technique. The problem is that few people nowadays take the time to learn properly and perhaps have taken it up later in life and ski like they are invincible or want to show off for their Instagram story or whatever.

As for this tragedy we don’t really know the full story and possibly never will. We’ve been told there was a collision and that Gaspard suffered severe head trauma as he was not wearing a helmet at the time. I’ve read a lot about this within the past few hours but without witnessing the accident it’s hard to comprehend how or why this happened. Even on packed slopes it’s usually pretty easy to keep your distance from other skiers, I’ve rarely encountered skiers coming right up behind me and if I do, I would ski off to the side where possible and allow them to go ahead. Generally there’s an etiquette with skiers in the know and a way to behave on the slopes that is respectful to others so skiing itself is not the issue; it’s other skiers.

It's what is called the "skiing rush" that makes people take stupid risks when skiing, like skiing speeding, skiing off-piste, and the like. That skiing rush can get pretty addictive, resulting in people taking more and more risks and being less and less cautious.

[quote]Prince Charles narrowly escaped death in an avalanche in Switzerland in the late 1980s

I know. All those boring explosives classes went for nothing. Sigh.

They should stick to horseback riding.

What’s happening with Schumacher is down right cruel. His quality of life is gone with no vast amounts of improvement after all of this time. It’s clearly looking like it’s about money and not wanting to get him go.

As hard as it is folks if you haven’t already try and prepare a living will for yourselves.

^let him go.

Skiing, like many leisure "activities" has definitely faded in popularity since the eighties. Most young guys would rather stay home and get their kicks from video games. And porn.

The Alps are incredibly dangerous and not all deaths/injuries make the news, it's not a celebrity issue. A 5-year-old girl was just killed in France.

There is a lot of social pressure among affluent people to take up skiing. I’m convinced a lot of well off people only ski so that they can show that they have the money to do so. I’ve never quite understood it myself. To me, it’s tedious, a lot of work, and holds a lot of room for injury or death.

How could someone be skiing at a high rate of speed on a beginners slope? That poor kid.

Don't underestimate the dangers of "beginners" slopes. They're often usual pistes, albeit considered to be less dangerous due to being less steep which can be very misleading particularly for those who are more risky and less cautious. One can develop quite some speed that can ultimately turn out to be unmanageable on these pistes, too.

R22/R1, your definition of sport is exactly what skiing is. You have obviously never skied. I've (downhill/alpine, r13, not the cross country complainer you're referencing) skied pretty much my whole life, starting when I was 8 and absolutely love it. It is thrilling, an exceptional workout, and requires coordination, skill and the ability to control your body on a playing field unlike anything else in sport. Someone who engages in "'throwing yourself down a hillside in an uncontrolled manner" should be banned from the slopes. I call them "snowboarders" and avoid them whenever possible. J/k, snowboarders are hot and a lot of fun, and always know where to score weed.

Skiing is, without a doubt, dangerous. You are moving at a good speed, with minimal ability to stop quickly. Good skiers, however, have complete control over their bodies and equipment, can judge the environment at a glance, and know when to proceed and when to head for another run. I get the fear of skiing, however, and maybe that's what attracts guys like me to the slopes. I've skied all over North America (well, I avoid the bunny hills in New Hampshire and Vermont because the snow is too wet and generally not very slippery) and have yet to have a major accident. Sure, I've taken my share of spills and been sore for weeks, but name a sport where there is this level of physical exertion in which no one has been injured.

[quote] I get the fear of skiing, however, and maybe that's what attracts guys like me to the slopes.

What other thrill-seeking, death-defying adventures do you and your 'guys like me' get up to?

Base jumping? Parachuting? Planking?

I post on DataLounge.

Honey R36, DataLounge isn’t paying by the word anymore. Editing is your friend.

It claims the lives of the rich and famous mostly, so I don't really care.

How odd that Natasha Richardson was taking a beginning ski lesson at her age. As part of the Redgrave clan I would have thought she had grown up on the slopes of St. Moritz.

How odd that Natasha Richardson was taking a beginning ski lesson at her age. As part of the Redgrave clan I would have thought she had grown up on the slopes of St. Moritz.

My first ski lesson in Switzerland, I broke my ankle. My partner broke his leg in Verbier the second time he went skiing. It's fucking dangerous.

R31.

R39 There are some good points in what R6/R36 states.

Me take Woody ski holiday.

R46, Imposter! And I don't speak like that, racist.

rich people need to die somehow

Woody would be too neurotic to even set foot on the slope. You might want to come up with a different idea r46.

Haven't read this thread at all, but isn't the obvious fact that rich people have disproportionate amounts of discretionary money to do recreational things the rest of us can't afford?

Would the OP like to hire me as a research assistant? I'm even more perspicacious for my price!

Or maybe the sense of infallibility that comes with being a celebrity sometimes can lead to reckless behavior on a ski slope, whether it be speed, not wearing a helmet, going off-trail or playing Kennedy-style ski-football.

Skiing though is inherently dangerous and Natasha Richardson definitely wasn't reckless - that was a terribly random accident.

Chalk up the Michael Kennedy death to hubris, stupidity and the Kennedy attitude that rules don't apply to them and they don't have to follow any rules.

The family was playing touch football on skis on the slopes and the Ski Patrol told them to stop. Being Kennedys, they didn't want to stop, so they didn't stop and stupid Michael ended up crashing into a tree. He died as a result.

Boo Fucking Hoo.

[quote] Haven't read this thread at all, but isn't the obvious fact that rich people have disproportionate amounts of discretionary money to do recreational things the rest of us can't afford? Would the OP like to hire me as a research assistant? I'm even more perspicacious for my price!

Most of the people killed in ski accidents are not celebs.

[quote] The National Ski Areas Association reported 42 fatalities in 2019-20, which is slightly above the 10-year national average of 39 deaths a year. Apr 30, 2021

What's disproportionate? We know the names of celebs. We don't know the names of the people who are not celebs.

Skiing is as sporty as sports get, Usual r1 Idiot.

Leg strength; agility and balance; excellent vision and spatial awareness; proper attire and equipment; understanding of the environment and weather; and, of course, skill in the ways of skiing, turning, and stopping on different terrains.

Man vs. Mountain. Sports don't get more basic, more essential, than that.

As for glamor: Oh, nothing glamorous about St. Moritz, Gstaad, Chamonix, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Zermatt, Vail.....

R52, Sonny Bono's death was even more avoidable, as it occurred after Michael Kennedy's! Yet Sonny eschewed wearing a helmet.

Sonny Bono is the reason they cranked up the copyright laws to where we are now, waiting 70+ years for things to go public domain.

Fuck Sonny.

I'm too bored to get killed skiing; I'll have to die from Omicron or be pushed on the subway tracks by a crazy homeless person the way to my shitty job

**too poor**, not bored!

R53 - Did the National Ski Areas Association report the decedents' income relative to the average American's income? Or maybe people who can afford... Oh, never mind.

In Europe poor kids in the Alps learn how to ski from elementary school on. Where do you think their future gold-medal winners are going to come from? They usually wind up as adults as ski monitors.

I once saw the legendary Jean-Claude Killy at Geneva airport. He was very short but perfectly formed.

Todays radio news has a complete family dying in the snow.

They probably spent a year saving up for their big adventure into the strange glamorous world of the super-rich.

[quote] [R46], Imposter! And I don't speak like that, racist.

No, I really speak like this:

MIA IS BITCH.

R47 Yes you do.

R19 Dubai isn't exactly unique, you can learn to ski on indoor snow slopes in Manchester UK, I think that there are another 5 around the country.

There is also an indoor snow slope in New Jersey US, with more planned

Skiing isn't really a luxury sport in Europe. There are very pricey, luxury ski resorts but there are plenty of middle-class resorts too. The one Ulliel died at isn't a particularly ritzy one. Are all ski resorts luxurious in the US?

Skiing isn't even just for the middle-class in Europe, I used to go to Sauze d'Oulx, Italy for a week with my high school every year from aged 11-15. We used to pay £3 ($4.20) a week year round to cover the cost with everything included. That was between 1979 -1984 though.

Eastern Europe is still very affordable, but not an option back then.

Skiing in Europe may not be luxury, but the solid middle classes maybe have more disposable income (and time off) than in the US. A week-long ski vacation for a family of four will still cost an arm and a leg. It's doable for well-earning, 2-income families; you won't find single moms or working-class families there.

Don't celebrities feel more pressure to be ostentatiously chic and cool? I'm a pleb (peasant) and I think of ski holidays as an elite, glamorous thing to do, not that I'm jealous or anything. I can't think of anything more miserable than freezing, risking life and limb and wasting money on such frivolity. So if any of that is true, it would explain the disproportionate celeb deaths on the slopes.

Weird that Vanessa Redgrave and Tony Richardson's daughter was on the bunny slopes though... I would have assume ski holidays since childhood for such like.

Being rich perhaps comes with an element of pressure to do glamorous and risky things. I wonder if a disproportionate about of wealthy people die in flying crashes of various kinds too. It seems that way (John Kennedy Jr, Kobe Bryant, Aaliyah, John Denver, and many more)

*amount* not about.

Skiing is like going to the shore: Wildwood isn't Malibu; and Middle Class Alpine Village isn't St. Moritz.

The glamor is in the setting, the accommodations, the clientele and their accoutrements.

DUMBEST SET UP TO A THREAD EVER

People who say skiing lacks glamour are not talking about the high end places in Switzerland, France and Italy surely. I imagine it would be expensive for most families to go on vacation to these places and pay for lodgings for the whole family as well as ski rentals and nice food (why go to these places and just eat crepes on the street when they are known for great food and restaurants) and lessons and ski lift passes… it’s really not the cheapest holiday for most.

Also I’m lucky I started young I couldn’t imagine ever being as competent at skiing if I had started later. I made all my mistakes young and learned from them. Skiing is one of those things where you learn by falling over (but one never expects it to end badly) but you have to accept that you will fall down when you are a beginner.

Considering the amount of celebrities that there are and have been, there have been few skiing deaths mentioned. So this is just fuelling irrational panic and probably started by someone who has never been skiing or perhaps never had lessons and so never felt in control on the slopes

The more tragic deaths seem to be Richardson and ulliel because it seems they were not doing anything considered high risk.

Skiing is hardly a luxury sport simply for the Uber rich. Or even for even for well off individuals. That misconception is wrong.

I’m talking about us folks in the Northeast and Northwest part of the US and also the Midwest.

Places like the Poconos for one where a plethora of folks go up to those mountains every year for a ski trip or a weekend getaway which is reasonably priced for regular working individuals.

Now grant it we do have some pricy high end ski resorts in places like Aspen, Colorado, Vermont and Maine. But even those have nominal fees if one is able to splurge every now and again or once in a lifetime.

Either way, skiing was never relegated to just the wealthy elite IMO. I myself have had the pleasure of skiing in Stowe Vermont which was fun and not that expensive from what I remember back in 2005 so..

I think the resort stay may add to the over all cost which could be pricey but again doesn’t most vacation trips add up?

As a matter of fact, skiing in Switzerland is popular, a national sport, and not for the rich. Its solidly middle class and working class kids do it too if they live near the popular (for the average folks) areas.

Most Swiss public schools take school kids to ski camps every winter. Every kid can learn and see if they like it or not.

Secondly, I've skied for over 20 years at both the dinky resorts and Zermatt (sporty), Villars and Saas Fee (destination but family resorts) Verbier (sporty AND jet set), Courchevel and Megeve (France, jet set reports). Some of these are huge resorts with amazing facilities and yet tickets are the same or cheaper than Vermont premier resorts.

Golf is an elite sport in Switzerland.

There are basically NO dinky municipal or popular courses. Whereas in USA - anyone can learn golf and afford to play it.

Mostly I just stay in Zermatt and its pricey, except for the ticket which at about 90 bucks is fair value considering it covers several mountains and Switzerland and Italy. But every year I end up with a single straight married guy, alone, on the lift with me, away from his family, trying to get in sport skiing they can't do, and he's complaining to me about the price of EVERYTHING and one of his kids getting hurt or sick or moody and "SPOILING" the holiday. ASSHOLE. If the resort really is NOT in your price range, stay the fuck away. Don't bring your kid to a resort with 2200+ METER (not foot) vertical drop. Accidents often have to be helicoptered out of the resort. $$$$$ Swiss have insurance for this. These dads should be grateful their kid only has a broken arm. I know a doctor and dentist in down and every week or two they have a completely mangled patient to deal with. Busted to bits.

Michel Trudeau wasn't killed by the actual skiing -- he was killed by an avalanche. His body was swept into a lake in British Columbia and it has never been found.

As others have pointed out, OP’s premise is wrong - skiing is dangerous compared to other sports, so the celeb deaths aren’t disproportionate. I know people who crashed, broke limbs, and someone who fell off a chairlift (survived but seriously injured). A friend of mine who was a backcountry guide was basically a ski medic/lifeguard because of all the accidents.

Part of the reason it may not be popular for family vacations in the US is it’s only really affordable if it’s nearby, and naturally, a lot of areas in the US aren’t suited to ski slopes. Plus I imagine it’s intimidating to non-skiers to think of getting specialized clothes, renting boots and skis, hauling kids up the chair lift, etc. It’s not easy to just show up, like the beach.

Celebrities die in plane crashes because they travel more. They also fly by private jet more, and some of those smaller jets can be tricky to operate. It's a numbers game.

I'm always amused by celebs who post pics of themselves with their entourage at some ski resort - all dressed up in the coolest and most expensive gear and then that's it. They never seem to go again. I can't believe they got much out of the skiing as novices. It's such a show.

Having grown up near fabulous beaches for most of my youth I didn't go snow skiing until I was 18 or 19. I hated it. Cold, wet, admittedly the gear was inferior back in the day, and I was terrified I'd break something. I went to the lodge and really enjoyed myself. I can handle water skiing.

If I need a rush I'd rather drive or surf or have great sex. All while being climate friendly.

Skiing is racist!

"People who say skiing lacks glamor are talking out of their arse."

FIFY, R75.

And I didn't say it was strictly glamorous. Nothing (except maybe owning a yacht) really is. Anyone can go to the movies; not everyone will be invited to a premiere. Anyone can carry a purse; few will carry a Birkin bag. And so on.

I lost a half a day of skiing.

This is a false premise with no statistics. Ask people who live near ski resorts. Deaths happen.

Downhill skiing is a much more dangerous sport than most people suppose. It's an adrenaline rush, and its expensive, so the people who are drawn to it 1) have a lot of money, and are thrill-seekers, and 2) generally are thrill seekers, who are often not as careful as regular people are.

In some cases, celebrities who die from it are just victims of terrible unlucky accidents, like Natasha Richardson. But Michael Kennedy was an idiot: he and his siblings were playing touch football on skis off the trail, and it was inevitable someone got killed. The Kennedys are a reckless family despite the history of members dying in foolish accidents: they egg each other on to do stupid shit to prove their physical courage to one another, and they internalize that for the rest of their lives and take stupid risks.

Correct Answer: Celebrities don't die "disproportionately" (sic) in skiing accidents.

People who ski and who ski the major slopes around the world are the people who die in still-tiny but higher rates than, say, people who sled in Central Park or live in the Sudan.

And guess what? Celebrities happen to be among the people who have the means, money and need to "be there."

To make up for being a twat, here's one of the most memorable celebrity/notable ski deaths in Colorado. The prince was decapitated by cables strung along the way at a big-deal event.

[R6]/[R36] made a well-mannered, well-balanced response to criticism.

Cause it’s an easy way to kill someone… you think they really got in an accident or were they murdered?

r91, I suspect Sonny Bono was SILENCED... SILENCED because he knew TOO MUCH!

^^Same with Michael Kennedy, Prince Friso, and Natasha Richardson.

Anything can happen on ski slopes. Anything at all.

Because skiing can be expensive, & wealthy people can afford to pursue it as a sporty pastime/endeavor.

Also?

Sliding down snow is fun AF, regardless of how you choose to slide.

Sonny Boh-no ⛷️

Skiing is a perfectly fine family activity, but sometimes we need to spend our vacation time together, in our own home, you know. Away from prying eyes.