24 February 2004

According to Ananova.com, a British resort rep working in St Anton is in intensive care after using her snowboard as a sledge while coming back from the Krazy Kangaruh.

The rep, named as Annie Ferrier, aged 24 from Norwich, was allegedly travelling so fast as she reached the bottom of the slope that the snowboard she was sharing with a female friend took off and travelled more than 20ft before hitting a parked car.

Ananova report that Ferrier, together with an unnamed 26-year-old New Zealand girl, had decided to use a snowboard, which belonged to the 26-year-old, as a sledge to slide down the famous apres-ski venue back to resort.

As visitors to St Anton will know, the bar is located about 600 metres from the main resort, necessitating a short journey via the piste to get back into town. Although it is possible to walk, this is not the only method - as Ananova claim - and most people ski or board back down to resort.

Unfortunately the route down is not entirely straightforward. A St Anton police spokesman said: "Shortly after the bar the slope turns very steep - about 25 degrees. It was on this steep run when the women lost control of the board.

"About 120 metres after the bar they went over the edge of the piste where there is a 1.5 metre drop."

Emergency services administered first aid before taking Ferrier to Zams hospital. Doctors at Zams moved her to the intensive care ward at an Innsbruck Clinic where she is being treated for serious head injuries. The New Zealand woman, who was not named, suffered only minor injuries.

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