California ski resort spokesman says a professional big-mountain skier who was seriously hurt in a bad landing after doing a back flip off a cliff during a weekend competition has died.Kirkwood Ski Resort spokesman Michael Dalzell says Ryan Hawks died at a local hospital on Tuesday. The 25-year-old member of the Green Mountain Freeride team from Vermont was competing in the North American Freeskiing Championships when he was injured in the fall on Sunday.
Ryan Hawks, 25, was a 2004 graduate of South Burlington. He was the captain of the boy lacrosse team under coach Jim Fields.
“Ryan was the most top-notch kid I ever coached,” Shields said on Tuesday. “He pushed himself as hard as he could in every situation, and really made the most of his abilities. He was just an amazing person.”“Ryan was my best friend for the last 10 years, someone who always brought out the best in everyone around him,” teammate Stephan Demers said in an interview with the Burlington Free Press. “He loved skiing, and it showed; he could look at a 70-foot cliff and not only see how to ski it well, but how to have fun doing it. Watching him ski was just amazing.”
Within a week, there have been two ski fatalities at Kirkwood. Before Hawks’ death, a snowboarder got an accident on Sunday and was reported dead on Monday by resort officials. The two incidents are not related.
