dailyloe.com – Bernie Rosow, a beloved skier and veteran employee of Mammoth Mountain, died suddenly while backcountry skiing in the Sierra Nevada on Thursday. He leaves behind a wife, son, and a community of friends who adored his endless excitement for skiing. According to renowned professional photographer Christian Pondella, who was with him at the time, Rosow was climbing Bloody Mountain with friends when he collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Pondella said in a phone interview that everything was normal and it was just a typical day. Out of the blue, Rosow said his back hurt between his shoulders. Rosow then sat down on the slope and stopped responding to his friends’ questions.
Pondella said it happened very quickly, noting that two minutes before that Rosow was having normal conversations. Pondella said they called search and rescue, and a team arrived by helicopter but was not able to revive him. Amber Feld, Rosow’s partner, told SFGATE in an email that the family is still waiting on an autopsy for confirmation on a cause of death, but it appears to be a heart health incident.
Feld said in an email that they are absolutely devastated. She said Bernie was his eight-year-old son Alexander’s favorite person in the entire world. Rosow was born in Vermont but moved to Mammoth Mountain in the early 2000s. He made a name for himself for his creative and powerful skiing in both the park and backcountry.
He told Black Crows Skis in 2020 that he originally wanted to be a professional skier but pivoted to working for the mountain as a snowcat operator when the professional career didn’t pan out. He said that he lived in a tent in the woods of Mammoth Lakes when he first came to town. In a video interview, Rosow said he was sleeping in his tent in the woods looking for work. He knew he didn’t want to work in the day because he wanted to ski, and a friend suggested he become a snowcat operator.
Emily van Greuning, a spokesperson for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, said Rosow had worked for the resort’s snowcat crew for over 25 years. Van Greuning said in an email that he will be missed greatly by the Mammoth family and surrounding community. She said his passion for the sport was aspirational, and his legacy will never be forgotten. The resort’s thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.
