It’s the kind of news which leaves every snowsports lover horrified; another high profile incident on the slopes which has resulted in the death of a skier.
But what is perhaps the most haunting thing about the passing of Lynn Ban, the Singaporean jewelry designer and star of Bling Empire: New York, who died this month at the age of 52 following a ski accident, is how benign the incident seemed at first.
Ban ‘caught a tip and face planted’ while enjoying a ‘beautiful sunny day in Aspen’ on Christmas Eve. It’s something almost every skier or snowboarder has encountered during their time on the slopres, whether experienced or not.
It should have been a fairly innocuous moment in the family’s vacation, but a month later she was dead after suffering a brain bleed.
It’s a story which has shaken the ski community, likely because it bears horrifying similarities to the death of a number of other high profile deaths in the snowsports world – such as that of Natasha Richardson – many of which occurred in seemingly ‘safe’ conditions.
This week alone, a 29-year-old Irish man plunged to his death at a ski resort in southern Bulgaria after losing his balance while taking pictures with his group at the resort in Bankso, and a British man, 52, diedd after being swept away by a ‘very large’ avalanche in an off-piste sector in the Chamonix valley, at the foot of Mont Blanc.
Britain has become a nation of skiers, with 6.3 million people in the UK now claiming to be able to ski to some degree.
It is therefore easy to be lulled into a false sense of security, that it’s a relatively safe, ‘family-friendly’ sport, particularly if you are a beginner who is sticking to slopes which are accessible and considered easy.
The late Bling Empire: New York star Lynn Ban told fans on Instagram: ‘At the top of the mountain I caught a tip and face planted. Luckily I always wear a helmet’
The Netflix star took to Instagram on December 30, 2024 to detail the terrifying incident, and added that she was feeling ‘grateful and blessed’ following her life-threatening ordeal
The star posted photos of herself in her hospital bed after the surgery as she explained how a fall while skiing led to a troubling headache
But there are an average of 10 traumatic deaths recorded each year on the French slopes, whilst reports state there has been an increase in collisions on French slopes in recent years.
Contrary to what many might believe, research has shown collisions are most likely to occur on wide blue runs, and on quiet days in optimum conditions.
It’s a stark reminder that the sport can still be extremely dangerous, even as Brits head out to the Alps in their hordes for days on the slopes, sunning themselves at mountain restaurants and enjoying a tipple with their lunch.
The French mountains remain remarkably unregulated; there is no way to advise skiers of the correct speed at which to tackle runs, no breathalyser system to prevent tourists from drinking and skiing, and no structure to stop foolhardy beginners from trying out slopes which may be beyond their capabilities.
Even taking precautions such as wearing a helmet is sadly no protection against serious injury or even fatality.
In the case of Lynn Ban, who was wearing a helmet, she was checked and cleared by ski patrol, and continued to ski throughout the morning, but developed a headache after lunch and travelled to hospital to get a CT scan.
It was then that she learned she had a brain bleed and needed to be airlifted to a trauma hospital, where she underwent an emergency craniotomy. Less than a month later, her family announced the tragic news that she had died.
In 2009, actress Natasha Richardson – wife of Liam Neeson – also sustained a head injury following a fall, this time during a beginner ski lesson in Mont Tremblant. She also complained of a headache hours after the accident, and would later die from an epidural hematoma in Lenox Hill Hospital.
French actor Gaspard Ulliel who starred in the Marvel series Moon Knight died in 2022, aged 37, in a skiing accident (pictured on a previous skiing holiday)
Michael Schumacher carving a turn while skiing at the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio, Italy in January 2000
Thirteen years later, the model and actor Gaspard Ulliel suffered serious brain trauma following a collision at the intersection between two blue slopes in La Rosière, France.
The weather conditions were described as ‘perfect’, and there were no rocks in the area of the collision, which was an ‘easily accessible’ slope.
Though Ulliel was airlifted to hospital, he died the following day, aged 37. The public prosecutor of Albertville, stated that the death was ‘not noted as excessive speed, inappropriate behaviour or the fault of one of the two skiers.’
And while Michael Schumacher survived a serious ski accident on the picturesque slopes of Méribel, a renowned ski resort in the French Alps, in 2012, he suffered a catastrophic head injury and secrecy has surrounded the exact state of his health ever since.
While descending the highly popular Combe de Saulire route, Schumacher opted to venture off-piste, entering into a small sliver of uncombed powder between Piste Chamois and Piste Biche that was peppered with small rocks.
The master driver was also a highly adept and committed skier – his skill was such that he had a run named after him at the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio, where Ferrari hosted its annual winter retreat.
But despite the relatively gentle gradient and the short distance of the off-piste section, a hidden danger was lying in wait. The snowfall had concealed some of the boulders from view, turning the powder paradise into a minefield.
Schumacher’s skis clipped one such boulder and the sudden force catapulted him into the air – leaving him powerless to avoid a head-first collision with another rock.
The impact was devastating. Schumacher’s helmet absorbed much of the force, but the severity of the accident cracked the hard shell and fractured Schumacher’s skull, leading to a traumatic brain injury.
It’s a stark warning of the dangers of going off piste, but perhaps the most horrifying detail of many of the other incidents is the fact all the people appear to have been skiing in what one could assume are ‘safer’ areas of a ski mountain; Richardson on the ‘baby slopes’, Ulliel on an ‘easily accessible slope’, and Ban on piste in Aspen’s ski area.
Following Natasha Richardon’s death, some resorts made helmet use mandatory on the slopes, but despite this, there are still fatalities on the mountains of some of resorts popular with tourists from the UK.
Earlier this month, a 10-year-old girl lost her life after colliding with a rock wall during a ski class at the French resort Villard-de-Lans.
That same week, a British woman died following a ‘violent collision’ on a ‘well-groomed’ black run on the Aiguille Rouge mountain in Les Arcs. Both were wearing helmets.
The unnamed woman is the fifth person since 2008 to have lost their life skiing or snowboarding on the notorious slope – which industry experts described as ‘tough’ and ‘strictly for strong skiers’ or off the piste, where avalanches regularly hit after large snow dumps.
Aiguille Rouge – named after the 3,227m mountain it descends from the top of – is one of the longest runs in the world and takes even competent skiers up to 40 minutes to complete.
Dr Jean-Jacques Banihachemi, head of A&E at the Hôpital Sud in Grenoble, previously told how his department was in a ‘catastrophic’ situation due to the volume of skiers being admitted (100 per day).
A view from the top of the black run shows the steep descent down the 2,026m vertical drop
Speaking to FranceInfo last year, he warned, ‘You have to pay attention to your speed, it is a very important factor in the cause of accidents. You have to know a minimum of the mountain code, how to ski and what priorities to give on the slopes.’
Collisions and falls on pistes aside, the dangers at a ski resort are plentiful. Recent reports indicate the possibility of falling from a lift whilst skiing could prove fatal.
In December, a snowboarder in Colorado was airlifted to hospital after he fell 47 feet from a chairlift while bending down to tighten his bindings. This month, an Oregon man filed a lawsuit against Willamette Pass Ski Resort after he sustained injuries from falling off a ski lift at the mountain.
Last season, a Frenchman fell to his death in the Alps after crashing through a plastic window on a ski lift while ‘messing about’ in the gondola.
According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)’s 2022 report, from 1973-2020, there were 14 fatalities because of mechanical malfunction on chairlifts in the US alone – with 86 per cent of falls were due to user error.
It is a stark reminder that skiing remains an extreme sport and that every time you take to the slopes, you are taking a risk; a winter holiday may promise fun and delight in the sun and the snow, but for many, the story doesn’t have such a happy ending.
