Teen dies after ski hill accident at Canadian ski resort

Uxbridge - A 16-year-old boy who fell and hit his head Friday evening while skiing with a friend at a ski resort near Toronto died Saturday morning from his injuries, police confirmed.

According to the Toronto Star, Durham Regional Police believe the boy’s family is from York Region, but did not release his identity as they are still informing relatives. Police said the teen was found without vital signs around 6 p.m. He was taken to a local hospital with a critical head injury and later rushed to Toronto's Sunnybrook trauma center for emergency treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after midnight. John Tustian, a director of operations at the Lakeridge Ski Resort in Uxbridge, confirmed the accident happened in the resort's Razor's Edge terrain park. “He attempted to hit the jump at the bottom of the park and unfortunately didn’t complete the landing properly,” Tustian told CTV Toronto on Saturday. The terrain park contains a series of jumps, hills and obstacles that skiers and snowboarders use to perform tricks. Jennifer Stovin, another director of operations, told the Star the teen was wearing a helmet, which is mandatory in the Razor’s Edge terrain park. That being said, Tustian added "the biggest thing you can do is make sure you're not doing something that is over your level." Resort staff said they were told by the victim’s friends that he was an experienced skier, CTV Toronto reported. Tustian said the accident has left skiers and snowboarders at the resort "devastated." “It hit close to home because I had been hitting the same jumps all day,” said a 17-year-old high-school student who was snowboarding on the same course Friday. 'Helmets sold in Canada require no safety certification' Seeing that the teen suffered head injuries while wearing a helmet have left many to question the safety standards for ski helmets. Richard Kinar, a spokesperson with the Brain Injury Association, told the Star in an interview Saturday from Vancouver that the critical and alarming issue is that helmets sold in Canada require no safety certification and many have undergone no testing. Only hockey and lacrosse helmets are required to meet specific standards in Canada. Standards recommended for ski and snowboarding helmets are voluntary, the Star writes. Kinar pointed to the federal auditor general’s report, released last spring, that warned unregulated consumer products, “such as ski helmets, that do not meet Canadian standards, could cause injury or death.” Meanwhile, the 70-acre Lakeridge resort located around 70 kilometres from Toronto, was open for business on Saturday. However, officials told 680News the jump that the boy was killed on will remain closed. Staff members were extremely upset to heat about the accident, Stovin said. “We are extremely sad for the family, our hearts are definitely going out to them today.” The video promo below shows Lakeridge Resort's - Razor's Edge Terrain Park: