Deaths associated with skiing in Australia: a 32-year study of cases from the Snowy Mountains.

We present the first study of skiing-related deaths in Australia--a 32-year study of skiing-related deaths in the Snowy Mountains. We have reported 29 such cases; eight subjects died of trauma, 15 subjects died of cardiovascular causes, and six subjects died of hypothermia. The over-all incidence of death was 0.87 deaths per million skier-days; the specific incidence for trauma-related deaths was 0.24 deaths per million skier-days; for cardiac-related deaths was 0.45 deaths per million skier-days; and for hypothermia-related deaths was 0.18 deaths per million skier-days. These findings compare most-favourably with US figures. Death that is associated with skiing in the Snowy Mountains is a rare event.