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Bernie Rosow was a beloved member of the Mammoth Lakes community.<\/p>\n
Christian Pondella\/Cody Mathison<\/p>\n
Beloved skier and veteran employee of Mammoth Mountain<\/a> Bernie\u00a0Rosow suddenly died while backcountry skiing in the Sierra Nevada on Thursday, leaving behind a wife, son and a community of friends who adored his endless excitement for skiing.<\/p>\n Rosow was climbing Bloody Mountain, an iconic peak near the town of Mammoth Lakes, with friends when he suddenly collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to renowned professional photographer Christian Pondella, who was with him at the time.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cEverything was normal, just a typical day. Just out of the blue he said, \u2018My back hurts, it hurts between my shoulders,\u2019\u201d Pondella said in a phone interview. Rosow then sat down on the slope and stopped responding to his friends\u2019 questions, Pondella said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt happened so quick,\u201d Pondella said. \u201cTwo minutes before that I was having normal conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernie Rosow pictured at Mammoth Mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cody Mathison<\/p>\n Pondella said they called search and rescue and a team arrived by helicopter but was not able to revive him. Amber Feld, Rosow\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe are absolutely devastated,\u201d Feld said in an email. \u201cBernie was his eight-year-old son Alexander\u2019s favorite person in the entire world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rosow was born in Vermont but moved to Mammoth Mountain in the early 2000s, where 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\u2019t pan out. He said that he lived in a tent in the woods of Mammoth Lakes when he first came to town.<\/p>\n \u201cI was sleeping in my tent in the woods looking for work. I knew I didn\u2019t want to work in the day because I wanted to ski. And a friend of mine was like, \u2018You should be a snowcat operator,\u2019\u201d Rosow said in a video interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bernie Rosow was a hard-charging skier known across the industry for his endless excitement.<\/p>\n Cody Mathison<\/p>\n Emily van Greuning, a spokesperson for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, said Rosow had worked for the resort\u2019s snowcat crew for over 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe will be missed greatly by the Mammoth family and surrounding community,\u201d van Greuning said in an email. \u201cHis passion for the sport was aspirational, and his legacy will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosow told skimag.com last year<\/a> that the only powder day he had missed in 20 years was when his son was born. Pondella said he was a committed partner and father who would always be taking his kid on an adventure, whether it was skiing or skateboarding or playing with radio-controlled cars.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe loved his partner and he loved his kid,\u201d Pondella said. \u201cWhen we were hanging out he would talk about them a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernie Rosow seen taking a deep powder carve on Dec. 15, 2024, at Mammoth Mountain.<\/p>\n Christian Pondella<\/p>\n Rosow documented his adventures on his TikTok<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> accounts, where he amassed over 100,000 followers. Pondella said Rosow\u2019s endless energy amazed everyone who knew him.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of us as friends couldn\u2019t figure out how he just had the energy. He would ski all day and then work from 4 p.m. to midnight, come home, get to bed at whatever time, and then be the first one at the mountain the next day and do it all over again,\u201d\u00a0Pondella said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n His devotion to the mountains turned him into one of the best skiers at Mammoth, and a widely known local who nearly everyone wanted to ski with.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was one of the more talented skiers I\u2019ve ever skied with, and I\u2019ve photographed the world\u2019s best skiers over the last 25 years of my life,\u201d Pondella said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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