NY Snowmobile Driver Dies During Race at Vermont Ski Area

A 56-year-old New York resident has died during a snowmobile race in Vermont, police said.

State police troopers from the Royalton Barracks responded to the Suicide Six ski area in Pomfret at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday for a report of a snowmobile crash, the state Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

One of the snowmobile operators was traveling down the mountain when he left the course area and crashed into a tree, the statement said.

The operator suffered fatal injuries and was not transported to the hospital, according to police.

State police did not release the name of the victim, but Rock The Hills VT, which organized the race, identified him in a statement posted on Facebook as Jim Darrow.

“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of one of our long time racers, Jim Darrow while he was returning down the hill after a winning run,” the organization posted on Facebook. “While we may never be sure exactly what happened, today was a tragic accident, there is no other way to say it.”

Racing continued Sunday at the request of Darrow’s family, the organization said.

The snowmobile was totaled, police said.

Ski area management also expressed condolences.

“All of us at the Suicide Six Ski Area are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic death of a participant in the snowmobile race event organized by Rock The Hills on Saturday, April 2,” Courtney Lowe, president of the Woodstock Inn & Resort, owner and operator of the ski area, said in a statement.