Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Two deaths on local mountains

Separate accidents on Whistler and Blackcomb

A 32-year-old Vancouver skier died after colliding with a tree on Whistler Mountain Sunday.

Earlier in the week, a volunteer with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program, 74-year-old Manning “Manny” Norman, died following a collision with cornice debris.

Robert James Crumlin was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident occurred on the lower half of Bear Paw on Whistler Mountain. Whistler Mountain Ski Patrol dispatch received a 911 call at approximately 1:39 p.m. Sunday. Ski Patrol responded immediately.

According to a statement from Whistler Blackcomb, snow conditions at the time and place of the accident were reported as hard and packed. Skies were clear and visibility unlimited. Local RCMP said speed was a contributing factor in the early afternoon mishap.

A coroner’s investigation is underway.

Norman died Tuesday, March 7 while being transported by ambulance from the Whistler Health Care Centre to Vancouver.

Earlier that day, at approximately 11 a.m., Blackcomb Mountain Ski Patrol dispatch received a call that a male had skied into cornice debris in the Showcase T-Bar area and sustained a chest injury. Norman was conscious and alert when Ski Patrol arrived a few minutes later.

A statement from Whistler Blackcomb indicated an A.L.S. paramedic, two doctors and a ski patroller attended to Norman to assess his condition. Norman suggested that he could ski off the mountain but medical personnel insisted that he be tobogganed down and transferred to the health care centre by ambulance.

Snow conditions at the time and place of the accident were reported as soft-packed. Visibility was between 50 and 75 metres.