Austrian, 19, in Coma After Skiing Spill at 62 M.P.H.

Christina Putz, a 19-year-old Austrian skier, was in a coma with her life in danger today after crashing at 62 m.p.h. during the first women’s World Cup downhill race of the season.

Putz, an Innsbruck native in only her second year of World Cup competition, went out of control going into the bank turn of the 2.1-kilometer “O-K” course, took the wrong line with her skis and struggled in vain to recover before going into the high, sloping turn.

Her ski tip caught on a bright orange sideline restraining bag, part of the safety system which is designed to prevent racers from going off the course.

Putz was launched skyward, crashing over the orange plastic barrier and onto the ground. Then she was launched on a second somersaulting arc of 32 to 50 feet before crashing face down on the ground off the course, her fluorescent green-and-pink suited body crumbling in a heap.

She was taken by police helicopter to the Sablons a La Tronche hospital in Grenoble with serious head injuries.

An official medical bulletin said that Putz was in a coma and that doctors were awaiting the results of brain scans before making any statements.

The Austrian team doctor, Sigi Wagner, examined the skier moments after the accident.

“She suffered heavy head injuries, she’s unconscious,” Wagner said. “Her life’s in danger; I found blood in her lungs.”

Putz, who placed 15th in a downhill competition last spring at Vail, Colo., barely qualified for one of the 10 race spots on the powerful Austrian team Wednesday by clocking the 20th best training time of the day.