The final text of a snowboarder who died in a tragic accident in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales has been revealed as an inquest into his tragic death begins.
Andrew Seaton, 24, sent a selfie to his girlfriend on the morning of Saturday, September 3, 2022, with the caption: “Wind up there”, but in the hours that followed he died in a suspected fall at Watsons Garage.
The veteran skier’s death is being investigated, along with a police response and a multi-agency search before his body was discovered on a rock two days after he headed into the wilderness.
The court heard that Mr Seaton travelled from his home in Canberra to Jindabyne on Friday, September 2, 2022, and spent the night in his car as he headed to Kosciuszko National Park.
The next day, he drove to Gothega, where his APC was later found in a parking lot, and struck up a conversation with some fellow skiers as he set off into the backcountry.
He texted his girlfriend that morning, and other skiers reported seeing a solo skier traveling along the ridgeline at Watsons Garage early that afternoon.
The alarm was raised when he failed to contact his mother, Janice, by Saturday evening, and his family called police.
The court heard that he would always call his mother when he returned from the ski fields after a day trip.
During the search, his family told police he would not be camping overnight and did not have equipment such as a tent or place to sleep, the court heard.
He was carrying supplies and equipment, including a personal locator beacon, but it had to be activated manually.
He also did not complete a trip intent form, which would have alerted the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and NSW Police where he intended to travel.
A post on a backcountry skiing community group’s Facebook page alerted rescuers to his possible location when several people reported seeing Mr Seaton in Watsons Garage.
Conditions on the Watson Crag slope were icy that day and could have been a challenge, the court heard.
The NSW Police Alpine Operations Unit, NSW Ambulance, National Parks and Wildlife and Emergency Health Services have launched a search.
A search party was launched on Monday and his body was found at 3 p.m. by a police helicopter.
His body was found on a rock, at the bottom of a stream, near some fast-flowing water, and could not be recovered until the following day, with the court hearing that the terrain was dangerous and steep.
The court heard he suffered multiple injuries, including to the head, consistent with a fall from a height, and that his death would have occurred instantly.
The inquiry is looking into the police response, the multi-agency search, whether it could have been started earlier and whether he should have been registered as a missing person from the start.
His mother, Janice Seaton, also told the court she felt frustrated at times because multiple officers asked her the same questions during the initial police response.
Mr Seaton died “doing what he loved”, his assistant attorney Jake Harris told the court.
“He was drawn to a sport that was stimulating, demanding and highly skilled,” Mr Harris said in his opening remarks on Monday.
Mr. Seton was a professional backcountry skier, having skied in Chile as well as working in the snowfields of Colorado.
“He really loved ice skating, snow and cold, and we don’t understand why,” Ms. Seton said during her testimony.
“It was something inherent that he loved.”
Search teams found marks believed to have been placed by Mr Seaton, and a month later his ski poles were found on the slope where he died.
One witness, David McCluskey, said he met Mr Seaton while travelling through the outback that day and saw him heading towards Watsons Garage.
“It never occurred to me that this boy was not up to his potential at all,” Mr. McCluskey said.
Mr McCluskey said the fact that Mr Seaton did not return as planned and did not activate his personal locator device should have alerted police and search teams that he had been seriously injured.
“The inactivity of PLB in this case should have been a 10 out of 10 red flag,” Mr McCluskey told the court.
The inquest continues before Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan.
