(RepublicanJournal.org) – Undertaking any sport comes with some degree of risk of injury. Snow sports — skiing and snowboarding — can be particularly hazardous. Accidents happen on the courses, but rarely are they ever deemed homicides. Yet, that’s exactly what a coroner ruled the death of a skiing instructor in Wyoming.
The mishap occurred on April 14 at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Two men, 71-year-old instructor Peter Wuerslin and an unidentified 34-year-old collided on the slopes, both suffering serious injuries. Wuerslin’s injuries were fatal. He died of intracranial hemorrhage, or bleeding in the brain, three days after the collision. While it was likely an accident, as most on the slopes are, the coroner designated it a homicide.
Under Wyoming law, a coroner issues a homicide designation if another person causes the death. From here, local authorities will determine if there is a crime and whether to prosecute.
According to Ski Mag, Wuerslin, who has been a part-time instructor at the resort for more than 40 years, was skiing with friends. Ski reports reveal the collision happened when the younger man “failed to maneuver” around him. Wuerslin was wearing a helmet at the time, but the other man was not.
Wuerslin was more than just a part-time ski instructor. He was well known for his athletic abilities. He even biked around the world, a journey titled the Too Tyred Tour that took him and two friends six years to complete. They traveled from continent to continent, sometimes finding themselves in unfriendly territory and at other times having to work while on the journey to afford the trip.
All in all, the trio biked 45,000 miles through ice, deserts, and jungles. The purpose was to see the world but not in the way that the wealthy do, by airplane travel. Rather, Wuerslin said that on a bike, “You go slow enough; you see everything.”
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