SANFORD, Maine – A 23-year-old Kennebunk man enjoying a night of snowmobiling with two childhood friends died at approximately 8 p.m. Friday when he tried to avoid a gate on a trail in Sanford.
Christopher P. Jackson, who was to celebrate his 24th birthday on Jan. 17, was pronounced dead on the scene. The Sanford Police Department and the Maine Warden Service responded.
According to the Maine Warden Service, Mr. Jackson was snowmobiling with two friends, 26-year-old Ty D. Brown and 24-year-old Matthew R. Weeman, both of Kennebunk, when Mr. Jackson approached a gate that separates the trail from its intersection with Hansen Ridge Road.
The gate, which is well marked with reflective materials, is a series of poles with an opening in the middle for people who use the trail to pass through. The maintained trail is a former railroad bed that now is draw for recreation such as biking, hiking and snowmobiling.
Warden John Lonergan, who responded to the accident with Warden Sgt. Tim Spahr, said Mr. Jackson tried to avoid the gate by turning the snowmobile a hard right. The sled rolled over and Mr. Jackson came off of it, hitting his head on a pole before landing in the snow.
Mr. Brown and Mr. Weeman did not witness their friend hitting the gate, Lonergan said, but immediately tried to help him by wrapping his head with cloth.
Mr. Jackson was wearing a helmet, and alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the accident, Lonergan said. The Warden Service is investigating whether speed was a factor.
“It’s a tragedy accident,” Lonergan said.
Posted by Tom Remington
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