USST's Shelley Glover dies three days after Oregon training crash

By Published On: October 18th, 2004Comments Off on USST's Shelley Glover dies three days after Oregon training crash

USST’s Shelley Glover dies three days after Oregon training crashShelley Glover, a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s development team, died at 10:50 a.m. on May 8, three days after suffering a major head injury in a training crash at Mt. Bachelor. She was 17.

Glover’s parents and sister were at her side in the Bend, Oregon, hospital where she had been on life support for three days. Her teammates had an opportunity to visit her at the hospital before she passed away. The camp has been cancelled and the athletes were sent home.

The accident occured on the Coffee run at Mt. Bachelor. Glover was participating in a ski camp that focused in part on terrain skills. Following her crash, several coaches were quickly at her side on the hill.

It is a devastating occurence for the U.S. Ski Team. According to the USST, no team athlete has been killed on the hill since a jumper, Jeff Wright, died near Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1975.

“We’ve been very fortunate not to have any situations like this at the team level,” said the USST’s Tom Kelly. “It’s very tragic for the team. We compete individually in this sport, but we train and work as a team.”

Air Life, the helicoper service operated by the hospital, evacuated Glover from the mountain to the Bend hospital after the ski patrol attended to her on the hill.

Glover, a native of Wisconsin, has been a student at Burke Mountain Academy, in Vermont.

“Shelley was a very talented and promising young athlete, and very much on track to become an Olympic ski racer,” said U.S. Ski Team President and CEO Bill Marolt. “It’s obviously a great loss for her family and friends, and our prayers go out to them.”

He added, “It’s also a great loss for our Team. While our athletes are all competitive, we live and train as a team, working toward a common goal. Shelley was a great part of that team.”

Glover, the 2002 Eastern Junior Olympics giant slalom champion who was in her second year with the development squad, was considered a rising star, enjoying her best season ever last winter. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she raced for coach Pat Slattery at Tyrol Basin Ski Area near Madison, before heading east to Vermont to attend Burke. She joined the U.S. Ski Team’s development team in 2002.

In her first full season with the ski team this past winter, Glover worked her way to six top-five finishes in international-level (FIS) races. She also finished in the top 15 all four days at the 2004 NorAm Cup Finals.

She displayed continued success in the technical disciplines (slalom and giant slalom), finishing eighth in slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Alaska in March and winning a pair of FIS races in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, at the end of January. She finished the 2004 season ranked sixth in the NorAm Cup slalom standings.

“Shelley was one of the top junior athletes on the team,” said Alpine Program Director Jesse Hunt. “She had proven herself in the technical disciplines among her peers by achieving top 10 in her age group in slalom in the world. In addition to achieving top results, she was a great athlete off the slopes and was one of our top prospects for the future.”

In lieu of flowers, the Glover family asked that donations be made to either Burke Mountain Academy or to the Shelley Glover Fund, U.S. Ski Team Foundation.

Services were pending and were expected to be held in Madison and at Burke Mountain Academy.

Shelley Glover Fund

U.S. Ski Team Foundation

Box 100

Park City, UT 84060

435.647.2074

shelleygloverfund@ussa.org

Shelley Glover Fund

Burke Mountain Academy

Box 78

East Burke, VT 05832

802.626.5607

https://www.burkemtnacademy.org/

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About the Author: Pete Rugh