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Mammoth Is Interesting
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On the one-year anniversary of the deaths of three ski patrollers on Mammoth Mountain, the ski area on Friday, April 6 posted a "We Won't Forget" memorial on its Web site, while friends and family of James Juarez gathered for a short memorial at the top of the 11,052-foot ski hill.
Juarez, along with patrollers Walter Rosenthal and Scott McAndrews, died of asphyxiation from poisonous gases when they fell into a snow cave created above a volcanic vent, or fumarole, near Chair 3/Facelift.
The patrollers were trying to re-position a fence around the fumarole following an especially heavy snowfall.
"James was such a hard worker," said ski patroller John McGrath during the brief ceremony on Friday. "He said he would go fix the fence. It is something we never ever thought would happen. Normally, we fix the fence, then go skiing."
The group, wearing black Juarez memorial t-shirts, met at the top of Mammoth Mountain, then skied to the fumarole site for a moment of silence and remembrance. Friends were somber, and told stories of good times.
"You know what James would want us to do?" former patroller Austin Staunch asked. "He would want us to go skiing!"
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