Suicide in ski town article.

[DanoT]

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...-suicides-happening-at-such-an-alarming-rate/

I found the article above to be a very interesting read.

Most of the suspected factors contributing to the high suicide rate in mountain towns can be mitigated by a person who maintains a solid core group of friends, successful job, marriage etc. However, the one factor that I had no idea about and that is much more difficult to mitigate is the effect on the brain caused by living at high altitude.

All B.C. ski resorts are low elevation. The town of Aspen is higher than the top lift station of any B.C. resort, so a comparison between mountain town suicide rates in the US and B.C. might be revealing.

Edit: I think the top of Kicking Horse gondola is 4-500 feet higher than Aspen, but that still makes KH low elevation.

 

[cantunamunch]

If it's not worth going through the rest of it to get to sparse, weak, boring highs, mitigating factors are busy multiplying zero.

 

[Ron]

Steamboat just lost a great person to depression, Marc Sehler, who lived just a few doors down was instrumental in planning and building our single track network behind our house on Emerald Mountain and on Buffalo (Buff) Pass. He and his wife, Gretchen were inseparable. Marc was also a Level 3 at the mountain and Was universally liked and respected. Marc was known for his quiet and friendly demeanor always willing help others. This was a shock and huge loss to the community. Marc was the first person to take me skiing OB and I often referred his name to Pugskiers looking for private lessons. There was a memorial on the mountain on Saturday. It was attended by about 500 people. No message here, just thought I would post this up. its just tragic.

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/sehler-worked-tirelessly-to-build-emerald-single-track/

 

[Mendieta]

Steamboat just lost a great person to depression, Marc Sehler, who lived just a few doors down was instrumental in planning and building our single track network behind our house on Emerald Mountain and on Buffalo (Buff) Pass. He and his wife, Gretchen were inseparable. Marc was also a Level 3 at the mountain and Was universally liked and respected. Marc was known for his quiet and friendly demeanor always willing help others. This was a shock and huge loss to the community. Marc was the first person to take me skiing OB and I often referred his name to Pugskiers looking for private lessons. There was a memorial on the mountain on Saturday. It was attended by about 500 people. No message here, just thought I would post this up. its just tragic.

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/sehler-worked-tirelessly-to-build-emerald-single-track/

Thank you, Ron, for sharing. It is really sad and tragic. And I appreciate what you did. Sometimes there is the tragedy, the sadness, and we simply share how we feel.

But it is important to share. Depression awareness can save lives. It took me a long time to understand the difference between sadness and depression.

 

[Sibhusky]

The article describes Whitefish, especially the substance abuse stuff. When you read the police blotter, a huge majority of the items are alcohol or drug related. But one area that doesn't tie in is the attendance at religious services. Anyone who has driven around the area here will tell you there is an excess of Ten Commandment signs in front yards. And in the last ten years we've seen the emergence of what many would call a cult, which is buying real estate like crazy (they seem to do that, don't they?). I don't think it's a drink the Kool Aid cult, but its members are pretty tight with each other. Which would contact the isolation problem. I am not aware of recent suicides but years ago there were two different cases of women leaving the house and intentionally going off into the cold to die. So, not fire arms. The days are very short here during the winter. I think that's a huge part of it. You get up in the dark and it's dark by 4 PM. You get eight hours of daylight. And most of that is overcast. Personally I'm fine with that and since I'm skiing I'm getting my sun, especially on inversion days.

 

[Ron]

And in the last ten years we've seen the emergence of what many would call a cult, which is buying real estate like crazy (they seem to do that, don't they?). I don't think it's a drink the Kool Aid cult, but its members are pretty tight with each other.

i have heard of this before. scary

 

[Nancy Hummel]

Steamboat just lost a great person to depression, Marc Sehler, who lived just a few doors down was instrumental in planning and building our single track network behind our house on Emerald Mountain and on Buffalo (Buff) Pass. He and his wife, Gretchen were inseparable. Marc was also a Level 3 at the mountain and Was universally liked and respected. Marc was known for his quiet and friendly demeanor always willing help others. This was a shock and huge loss to the community. Marc was the first person to take me skiing OB and I often referred his name to Pugskiers looking for private lessons. There was a memorial on the mountain on Saturday. It was attended by about 500 people. No message here, just thought I would post this up. its just tragic.

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/sehler-worked-tirelessly-to-build-emerald-single-track/

How incredibly sad. My heart aches for his wife. No other words.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

You never know what goes on underneath someone's smile when they say everything is fine when in fact underneath everything isn't fine. My heart breaks for anyone who goes through this and their families as well.

 

[coskigirl]

Steamboat just lost a great person to depression, Marc Sehler, who lived just a few doors down was instrumental in planning and building our single track network behind our house on Emerald Mountain and on Buffalo (Buff) Pass. He and his wife, Gretchen were inseparable.

I hadn't heard that this was suicide. I can't imagine the pain that his wife is going through.

 

[x10003q]

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/autopsy-confirms-steamboat-mans-cause-of-death/
Heartbreaking

 

[Ross Biff]

My heart dropped when I read this. I don't personally know anyone involved as I haven't been in Steamboat since the early 90's but I remember loving the place from the get- go and cannot begin to imagine the triggers for this. So sad.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Terrain is the reason I moved to Killington. Love for the local community truly makes this place home. Finding a mountain that keeps a heartbeat when the condos empty out has moved up my list of must haves.

 

[LiquidFeet]

@Guy in Shorts,
Does your post mean that Killington DOES has a heartbeat after ski season ends? Or that you are searching for a location that does?

 

[Mendieta]

Terrain is the reason I moved to Killington. Love for the local community truly makes this place home. Finding a mountain that keeps a heartbeat when the condos empty out has moved up my list of must haves.

That's a great point. As much as we love skiing, most of us would probably benefit from finding a community we love close to a ski area we like, as opposed to finding a way to subsist close to the ski area we love.

Places like, from what I personally know: Vancouver, Reno, Tahoe, they have mountains, lakes, a lot of outdoors fun but also non-ski related jobs and activities year around. Of course, suicide happens in big cities and strong communities/families all the time. But the additional risk factors mentioned in the OP's article can be managed, including perhaps choosing a not-so-high altitude area.

 

[Ron]

there is no other "ski town" that has as much of a community than Steamboat. its really not even a "ski town" although most know it for our skiing. In many ways, the local population's focus on skiing is not on the "ski mountain and the mtn biking, kayaking/rafting SUP culture and other sports are just as important here.

 

[coskigirl]

there is no other "ski town" that has as much of a community than Steamboat. its really not even a "ski town" although most know it for our skiing. In many ways, the local population's focus on skiing is not on the "ski mountain and the mtn biking, kayaking/rafting SUP culture and other sports are just as important here.

Agreed! Whenever I'm in Steamboat my feel is that the locals just love the outdoors and being active. If you love it you'll be welcomed with open arms. I have no doubt that if I lived there I'd feel part of the community very quickly even if Ron wasn't there. It's also part of why it didn't really work for my mom and stepdad. Not that they weren't welcome but they never really felt a part of the town I don't think. In order to be a part of the active groups one generally needs to have some proficiency in the activity and neither of them really do. Well, my stepdad thinks he does but he's the guy that people ski by and say "you're dangerous" (true story). You know it's bad when I go into the trees to be safer.

These obviously weren't issues for Marc Sehler but can be for some.

 

[Ron]

keep in mind there are like 90 Olympians and other world class athletes in a town of `13K people so what many consider expert elsewhere really isn't; so there's def' a segment of ultra high performance where its difficult to "fit in" but there's plenty of mortals like myself in town. Marc, although a true expert biker and skier, was happy to ski with likes of me you do have to be sure of who you agree to ski or bike with though! One guy I know invited me to bike with him after work one day, he was "just" going to go out for 60-70 miles on his gravel bike. LOL. He is an ultra runner and ultra biker so I knew that would have been a bad choice

 

[surfsnowgirl]

We feel the same way about Killington. I mean we don't live there but spend a lot of time there and the sense of community is pretty awesome. We've run into friends from Bromley while skiing Killington and it really feels like home. Bromley is a great community feel as is Magic but Killington really drives it home.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

@Guy in Shorts,
Does your post mean that Killington DOES has a heartbeat after ski season ends? Or that you are searching for a location that does?

Without a doubt Killington maintains a welcoming local feel. That is the folks that are drawn to the mountain are my kind of people. When or if I ever move from here finding a mountain with an active community will be paramount.

 

[cantunamunch]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html