QUEENSBURY — Two college ski racers from Castleton University in Vermont were credited with saving the life of a competitor during a ski race at West Mountain earlier this month.

A racer from Babson College suffered a severe leg laceration from the edge of his ski after it broke loose, the cut severing an artery and causing him to lose large amounts of blood quickly.

Castleton skiers Kylie Mackie and Linn Ljungemo were acting as gatekeepers at the point where the racer, Victor Wiaceck of Babson College, went down, and sprang into action immediately upon seeing him crash. Both Spartan skiers are first-aid certified through Castleton’s “e-care class,” and they knew that they had to find a way to stop the bleeding quickly.

Working with Mackie’s father, Kurt, they were able to use a windbreaker and belts as tourniquets to slow the bleeding and wait for assistance from West Mountain Ski Patrol and West Glens Falls Emergency Squad.

Wiaceck was in an ambulance that was headed to Albany Medical Center when on-board emergency personnel made the call to re-route to Saratoga Hospital, as Wiacek sustained continued blood loss and needed stabilization at a closer hospital.