January 14, 2021
PETERSENT/PUBLIC DOMAIN
Bernhard 'Tanner' Kahlau, 22, of Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, died Jan. 12 while skiing in the Adirondacks at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington, New York.
Friends and family are mourning the loss of a 22-year-old Luzerne County native who died Tuesday while skiing at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in the Adirondacks.
Bernhard "Tanner" Kahlau, a native of Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, suffered fatal injuries when he veered off a ski trail and crashed into trees around noon Tuesday, New York State Police said.
Kahlau was a college student at SUNY Fredonia, where he was a business management major and member of the Blue Devils hockey team.
Mountain ski patrol responded to the scene of Kahlau's crash and he was pronounced dead a short time later. He was taken to Champlain Valley Physician's Hospital in Plattsburgh, where an autopsy determined he died of a skull and cervical fracture, according to Lake Placid News.
"On behalf of Whiteface Mountain, we express our sincere condolences to family and friends who have been impacted," said a spokesperson for Olympic Regional Development Authority, which runs the ski center.
The incident comes about a year after 21-year-old Nicholas Koch, a native of Danville, Pennsylvania, died in a similar skiing crash at Whiteface Mountain.
"Tanner was incredibly humble and I am fortunate to be able to say I worked with him and got to share in his college experience," Blue Devils coach Jeff Meredith said in a statement. "Our Fredonia family is strong and we will need that strength to support each other as we mourn the loss of such a valued member of our family. God bless Tanner and his family."
