First Colorado Ski Death in Aspen
Sadly, the first ski death in Colorado occurred this weekend. A skier in Aspen is dead after he was caught in an avalanche outside the ski-area boundary last night. The skier, a local who lived in Old Snowmass, was trapped beneath a slide approximately 100 yards long and 30 yards wide in an area known as Power Line.
Authorities received a report of an overdue skier who had been skiing on Aspen Mountain at about 8:30 p.m. The Aspen Skiing Company mobilized 22 people who participated in the search.
The 52-year-old man was not breathing and had no pulse at the time he was found at about 9 p.m., according to a Pitkin County Sheriff's Office press release. Rescuers attempted to revive him using a defibrillator. The cause of death remains under investigation.
With a record set last ski season, 16 deaths on Colorado slopes, everyone hopes this isn't the beginning of another "record-breaking" season.