A woman who once lived in Park City died while skiing at a resort in Washington on Saturday, her family and the coroner there said, and the family recalled her fondness for the city and the outdoors.
KyOna Hoff was 22 years old. She died after an accident at White Pass, a resort that is situated close to Mount Rainier National Park. The coroner in Yakima County, Wash., Jack Hawkins, said Hoff fell headfirst into a tree well, which is a depression in the snow that forms around a tree. Her arms were pinned and she could not get herself out, he said. She suffocated.
The accident happened sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to Hawkins. The medical staff at the resort pronounced her dead, he said.
Hoff’s father, Darrell Hoff, said she lived in Park City during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 ski seasons. She lived in Old Town while she was in Park City. Her father said she worked as a lift operator at Canyons for at least one of the ski seasons she was in Park City.
“She just took off I’m going to Park City,” he said, describing her as a halfpipe skier and adding, “She was a free spirit.”
She moved to Yakima, Wash., afterward and was enrolled in a massage therapy school, her father said. She also trained horses. Hoff returned to Park City occasionally after she moved from the community, he said.
“She liked the feel of the place and she loved the halfpipe,” he said.
Kristina Dickson, a friend of hers who has lived in the Park City area or Salt Lake City for eight years, said Hoff wanted to be a professional free skier. They were roommates in Park City and Salt Lake City. Dickson recalled Hoff’s personality.
“She was a big people person . . . She had a great smile, had a great laugh,” Dickson said.