Snowboard crash at China Peak leaves Clovis teen severely injured
Two scary snowboarding incidents unfolded at China Peak Mountain Resort in the past month, with one caught on video and a separate crash leaving a teenage boy in critical condition.
Braxon Silva, 14, was snowboarding on Feb. 2 at the ski resort in eastern Fresno County when he lost control and crashed.
Family members said Silva lost consciousness after hitting his head on the ground and was airlifted to Fresno Community Regional Medical Center.
Doctors then discovered Silva suffered a major brain injury.
As of Thursday — 10 days after the teenager suffered his accident — Silva was no longer in a coma and able to move his arms and legs, but still had a long road in his recovery.
“Very thankful for all of the prayers,” said father Ronnie Silva of Clovis. “Very fortunate that Braxon has been progressing and getting better and better.”
In the other snowboard incident with injury in recent weeks at China Peak, a young man dropped roughly 20 feet to exit a ski lift.
Video was recorded of the Jan. 17 fall, with the man dangling from the side of a ski lift chair as it was ascending. He eventually lets go of the ski lift and falls on his feet, which are both strapped to a snowboard, before also hitting his back on the ground.
China Peak officials said the man did not properly disembark the ski lift, which led to his dangerous fall.
Instead of being strapped to the board with only one foot then buckling the other foot after exiting the chair lift, the man tried buckling both of his feet to the board while on the lift chair and missed the opportunity to safely disembark.
“Luckily, he’s fine,” said China Peak general manager Troy Cohee. “The lesson here is keep your butt in the seat and don’t play with your equipment while in the chair.”
While skiing and snowboarding come with inherent risks, some rare collisions at China Peak have resulted in death.
In January 2022, a 33-year-old firefighter from Santa Barbara County struck a tree while skiing and died. He was wearing a helmet.
In March 2018, a 35-year-old snowboarder fell head first into deep snow and suffocated.
In March 2012, a 30-year-old also died from suffocating from a head-first fall into deep snow.
This season, the slopes have been more dangerous at Mammoth Mountain, which is roughly 160 miles from Fresno but requires nearly a 7-hour drive to get there.
Just this ski season alone, there have been four reported fatalities at the Eastern Sierra ski area.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 1:53 PM.
