I met Matt, the victim, when he was a young weekend racer back East, maybe age 8. His older sister is a contemporary of our daughter's. Both of the Zhongetti's decided not to go the ski academy route. Matt was a outstanding athlete in high school, and a very strong student [as was his sister}. He graduated from Wake Forest. His family owns a ski home in Maine, and he was an every weekend skier through high school. Less frequent, I imagine, since. But I think by any measure he was a very strong, skilled skier. He was with his father. They made an annual trip West to ski. It saddens my family tremendously.
On the beacon topic, I urge both of my adult kids to wear one, whenever it makes an ounce of sense. And we have replaced them with better technology twice. They have air bags, full avy kits, and have taken numerous avy courses.
They also live in CO and CA, and work in the ski business. On snow 200+ days, and I hope, well aware of their surroundings, world wide. A beacon would have been a plus, but for an Eastern skier, making a once a year trip, skiing inbounds, I'm not sure if that's a reasonable expectation of recommendation. It's probably;y not on their radar screen.
Very sad loss. I remember his parents and sister from years ago. VERY nice family. I can't imagine this kind of loss. And please let's NOT utter those words about dying doing what he loved. I know very few families who have suffered this kind of loss, and have not wrestled with it almost every day. I lost a cousin in a sailboat race. Never found. Believe me, his parents never felt that way, for the rest of their days.
RIP, Matt.
