HANCOCK — A member of the snow-making team at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort was killed Tuesday morning when the snowmobile they were operating collided with a snow grooming machine, according to the owner of the facility.
“Our entire staff is deeply shaken and our primary concern now is with the individual’s family and friends,” said Tyler Fairbank, president of the Fairbank Group, which owns and operates the ski resort.
He said the incident, which occurred shortly before 11 a.m., was being investigated by the Berkshire District Attorney's Office and Massachusetts State Police. No further details were immediately available about the incident.
In a communication with The Eagle about 12:35 p.m., a state police spokesman said only that a person had suffered "life-threatening injuries," and deferred all further questions to the Berkshire DA's Office.
A spokesperson for the Berkshire DA's Office declined to release any additional information throughout the day, and said shortly before 5 p.m. that the office was not expecting to say anything more until Wednesday.
Jiminy Peak, which bills itself as the largest ski resort in Southern New England, boasts of its snowmaking capabilities, which allow it to offer an extended season.
"World-class snowmaking systems and expert grooming are hallmarks of our operation and it is the exception for us to have a season where we operate less than 100 days," its
website states.
The resort employed a tight-knit team of 18 snow-makers in 2019, according to an
Eagle profile about the operation.
