Patroller dies from injuries
Kathryn Miller
From staff reports, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
March 19, 2009
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patroller Kathryn Miller died Tuesday morning from injuries suffered in a skiing accident last week.
A Web site to update friends and family about her condition made the announcement Wednesday, and an Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center official confirmed she had died.
Miller, well-known by her former, married name Hess, fell in Spacewalk Couloir just south of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort boun-dary. She was on a backcountry patrol with colleague Kevin Maloney.
“Kathryn showed an incredible love for the mountains, her fellow patrollers and our guests,” a statement from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort said Wednesday. “She was an accomplished mountaineer, skier and outdoors person who will be greatly missed by all at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.”
Miller was an eight-year veteran of the patrol, was a guide for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and was a former instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School.
In 1999 Miller climbed the sixth highest mountain in the world, 26,906-foot Cho Oyu, on the border of Nepal and Chinese Tibet. She was part of a team of American women who claimed the summit without the aid of oxygen and without help from Sherpas.
A memorial gathering for close friends and family will take place Sunday at the ski area.
