Reader: Skiers who die at Colorado resorts are people, not just statistics

William Breathes's posts about the shocking number of skier deaths in Colorado this season sparked a heartfelt reminder from one reader. As he points out, there's a story -- and a person with a family and loved ones -- behind each of the fatalities...

By Michael Roberts

February 23, 2012

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William Breathes's posts about the shocking number of skier deaths in Colorado this season sparked a heartfelt reminder from one reader.

As he points out, there's a story -- and a person with a family and loved ones -- behind each of the fatalities.

Jon writes:

Don't make skier deaths just sound like a statistic. Each one is a real person, with a real family and with real friends. Also the number of people who die each year in no way reflects the number of people who are seriously injured to the point of never being able to recover to being the person they were before their injury. What makes something a trend? How many deaths is too many? How many injuries are too many? Could they be avoided? Could lives be saved or protected with in some cases a few simple changes? Ask my son, he'd answer you if he could. I'm sure that he'd say he would give it all back in order to have his life back as he knew it.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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