(WWJ) A 55-year-old snowmobiler who crashed early this month in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has died.
Officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources say Richard Dufty of Caseville succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, six days after crashing along Snowmobile Trail UP 472, known as Bobby Gay Truck Trail, in the Hiawatha National Forest.
He was riding a 2017 Ski-Doo MXZ XRS 800 E-tec snowmobile on Jan. 2 with a group of five others traveling west on the trail, which is northeast of Trout Lake.
A DNR investigation found that Dufty passed the other riders "at a high rate of speed." When they caught up, they saw a snow cloud in the air at the spot where Dufty’s sled left the trail.
The snowmobile hit several trees before it flipped end-over-end, and Dufty was ejected.
Toxicology reports indicate alcohol was a factor in the crash, the DNR said.
Including Dufty, four snowmobilers have died from snowmobile crashes in Michigan this winter. Three of the four crashes happened in the U.P. In 2020, Last winter, the DNR logged a total of 14 snowmobile fatalities, 10 of them in the U.P.
Michiganders can find snowmobile safety tips and information at this link.