A GoFundMe account, established in honor of a deceased Squaw Valley ski patrol member, has raised a little more than $161,000 for the family of Joe Zuiches.
The 42-year-old Zuiches, who lived in Olympic Valley, where Squaw Valley is located, leaves behind a wife and son. He was killed Tuesday morning during avalanche control activities at the Lake Tahoe ski resort.
An avalanche control route leader, Joe Zuiches was on one of the two, two-member teams at Squaw Valley that were deploying explosives to release avalanches from loaded slopes to make them safe Tuesday for skiers and riders.
To contribute to the Zuiches GoFundMe account, click here.
The original goal for the GoFundMe account was $100,000. However, that goal was met quickly and the new one is $200,000. As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the amount had grown to $161,421 and it had 2,198 people contributing.
“When the worst happens, we owe,” Olympic Valley’s Ben Mathes said in establishing the fund. “They put their life on the line for you and yours.”
Spokespeople from the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resort said the explosion during the avalanche control occurred at 8:35 a.m. on Tuesday. The explosion killed Zuiches while he was running an avalanche control route on Squaw’s upper mountain on Gold Coast Ridge. The incident took place prior to lifts being open for skiers and snowboarders. Following the incident, Squaw Valley shut down operations for the day. The resort reopened Wednesday.
An avalanche control route leader, Zuiches was on one of the two, two-member teams on the mountain that were deploying explosives to release avalanches from loaded slopes to make them safe Tuesday for skiers and riders. Zuiches was carrying an undisclosed amount of ammonium nitrate-based charges when the explosion took place. No one else was injured.
Explosives are used to create movement enough in deep snow to free potential avalanche material from precarious perches and travel safely downhill during off-hours at resorts.
Zuiches had been a member of the Squaw Valley ski patrol since 2012 and was a training supervisor.
“Our patrollers are among the most professional, quite literally, in North America, if not the world,” said Andy Wirth, president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings which owns Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resorts. “And Joe was considered one of the best of the best that are on patrol.”
