Boy, 15, killed in sledding accident north of Lake Tahoe
kmacmillan@sierrasun.com
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — A 15-year-old boy died in a sledding accident Sunday afternoon north of Lake Tahoe, an official said.
The teenager — identified Tuesday as Dylan Ridolfi of El Dorado Hills, Calif. — was sledding down a hill at about 3:30 p.m. in the Sheeps Flat area north of Incline Village when he struck two trees, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Armando Avina said Tuesday.
According to witnesses, Ridolfi was traveling at “high rate of speed” in an inner tube, Avina said. While CPR was administered, he was pronounced dead on the scene at about 4:10 p.m.
As of Tuesday morning, the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office was still looking into the cause of death.
Sheeps Flat — often referred to as Tahoe Meadows — is located off the Mt. Rose Highway north of Incline Village and is a popular sledding and snowshoeing destination for locals and visitors. The incident occurred about 150 yards from the highway on the west side, Avina said.
According to a Tuesday article in the Sacramento Bee, Ridolfi was sledding with about 10 family and friends on Sunday as part of a weekend trip to Tahoe.
Ridolfi was an offensive lineman on the unbeaten Oak Ridge High School freshman football team.
Football was a passion for the teen, according to the article, who stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds. He also had a soft spot in his heart for children.
“He was a big kid but he had a huge heart,” his father, Dan Ridolfi, told the Bee.
Aside from WCSO deputies, officials with the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee Meadows fire protection districts responded to the scene on Sunday, as did a CareFlight helicopter, Avina said.
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