It is uncertain whether the woman and her friends were using the lift's safety bar, but too often the safety bar is treated as a nuisance when it can save lives. This is the third significant fall from an operating ski lift this season, and the second fatality. A Massachusetts teen died after a fall from a lift at Ski Ward the first week of the year. Everybody should use the safety bar - a simple precaution but essential.

Aaron's father Robert Easter is currently acting as interim vice chancellor for research, but has also worked closely with the College of ACES, as a professor and former dean. He was the interim chancellor from 2009 until the middle of last semester.

The family released a statement late Tuesday through Denver Health Medical Center: "The Easter family is grateful to the ski patrol and the personnel at Yampa Valley Medical Center for their effort and care. They would also like to encourage that when engaged in outdoor sports, to do it with a partner."

So many deaths on the slopes could be prevented if the victim receives immediate help. Falling into a snow depression or tree well is often fatal if another skier or snowboarder is not close by to help extricate the fallen. No matter your age or your level of skill, you should always have a partner on the slopes.

The Vail ski patrol was working under difficult conditions Sunday, and again on Monday, with mass violations of closures on various parts of the mountain, according to a source familiar with the ongoing review of the accident. At one point on Monday, ski patrollers were reporting up to 60 simultaneous violations of closures in Siberia Bowl.

Last winter, the director of the Wolf Creek ski patrol died in an avalanche at the San Juan ski area during an avalanche control mission. A Jackson Hole ski patroller died from injuries suffered in a Jan. 2010 slide and a Boulder man died inbounds at A-Basin in 2005. There have been several other inbounds and sidecountry ski area avalanche deaths in Utah in the past few years.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center plans to meet with snow safety directors at Colorado ski areas to discuss avalanche control and risk management.

When skiers access inbounds terrain, consideration should be given to whether off-piste conditions will be encountered. Along with avalanches, powder-seeking tree skiers face a "non-avalanche immersion threat," referring to the increased numbers of tree-well deaths, when skiers or boarders are simply trapped and suffocate in deep, dense snow.

The deaths are the third and fourth caused by avalanches inside Colorado ski-area boundaries involving resort guests. A 25-year-old professional skier was killed in an avalanche at Snowmass ski area in December 2006 after cutting a closure rope. And a 53-year-old was killed in a warm-weather, "wet slab" slide in May 2005 at Arapahoe Basin while skiing an open run. From 1990 to 2005, only three skiers were killed inside U.S. ski areas by avalanches, none of them in Colorado.

Vail Resorts issued the following statement Monday: "On behalf of Vail Resorts and Vail Mountain, we extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the young man in the tragic incident that occurred on a closed area of the Prima Cornice trail yesterday. It is our understanding that the boys entered through a lower gate and hiked to the closed terrain."

Two gates provide access to Prima Cornice. Those gates are named Upper Prima Cornice and Lower Prima Cornice. The Upper Prima Cornice access gate was closed. The lower access gate was open, said Don Dressler, with the U.S. Forest Service.

The Ski Patrol took Jones down the mountain in a toboggan to the Sugarloaf First Aid Clinic, near the base lodge. Paramedics from NorthStar Ambulance took over his care at the clinic, where Jones was conscious and responsive. Jones was taken by ambulance to the Kingfield fire station, about 15 miles away, where he was transferred to the helicopter that flew him to the hospital in Lewiston.

In addition to her helmet, the victim had the required avalanche gear, including shovel, beacon and probe, Metzler said. The ski area is for expert skiers. It has no groomed runs or cut trails.

The snowboarder was apparently riding alone at the time of the accident. A group of four snow riders was heading down Canopy Cruiser when a woman became separated from the others, rounded a tree and found the man.

The second accident occurred when a 43-year-old "local skier" got caught in an avalanche while skiing out of bounds on Burnt Mountain. An eyewitness reported that the victim dropped in from a ridge and knocked loose a section of snow. The man was skiing with two other people, according to the Sheriff's Office. Other skiers saw the victim get buried and worked for about 10 minutes to dig him out of the snow. Others at the scene called 911, the sheriff's office said.

The Sheriff's Office relayed the information to the Snowmass Ski Patrol at 1:39 p.m. The Sheriff's Office asked the patrol to act as first responders. Patrollers reached the man at 2:18 p.m. and took over CPR until 2:53 p.m., when he was pronounced dead, according to Skico's statement.

The two accidents are the first two fatalities in or adjacent to the four ski areas of Aspen and Snowmass this season.

The victim had moved to Denver in 2009 and was described by friends as an avid skier. News reports say that emergency personnel attempted to revive Owens at the scene but could not.

There were 415 Canadians hospitalized with head injuries in 2010-11 relating to a winter sport or recreational activity, a number that has been pretty consistent since 2006-07. Surprisingly, nearly a third of those head injuries occurred while skiing or snowboarding.

The Canadian Standards Association did announce a skiing and snowboarding standard in March 2009, manufacturers have yet to make a helmet up to the standard. Many companies instead make helmets to meet American and European standards or self-regulate. And many provinces across Canada have not made helmet use mandatory because of the lack of helmets made up to the CSA standard.

Despite the lack of CSA approved helmets, the Nova Scotia government announced plans last month to make helmets mandatory in the 2012-13 skiing season. The law would see skiers who don't comply facing a $250 fine.

The Forest Service believes the revamped water-rights clause more closely mirrors the original 1986 ski-area permitting legislation and keeps the resource associated with the land.

The ski industry argues that the new clause is a federal taking of private property that prohibits ski areas from selling and trading a valuable commodity and reduces the value of the commodity, thus injuring "balance sheets". The continent's largest resort operator, Vail Resorts, reports water rights on its balance sheet as an intangible asset valued at $18.3 million. The industry also argues that the new clause requires operators to use the water only for resort operations yet does not make same requirement for the Forest Service.

The complicated water-rights imbroglio roiled recently as a consortium of congressional delegates joined the ski industry in requesting the Forest Service conduct further study and gather public input on the controversial change.

Sadly, Senators from Wyoming and Idaho, and both Colorado Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennett joined, Colorado Reps. Scott Tipton and Jared Polis and congressmen from Washington, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Georgia in urging the agency to issue a moratorium. The agency declined.

Experts argue that the only reason ski areas could obtain these water rights was because the Forest Service allowed them to do so. Some even argue that the resorts were deceiving the federal government because they never intended to transform the water rights back to the federal government, as first required in the 1986 National Forest Ski Area Permit Act, thus making the resort operators liable for criminal charges or permit revocation.

A major contention between the Forest Service and the ski industry is the agency's assertion that the new water rights clause does not impact water rights secured on private or non-federal lands. Another sticking point is the possibility that the federal government may decide the water rights secured by the ski area for skiing may be used more appropriately elsewhere. Since water rights owned by the federal government are a resource owned by all of us, it might not be such a bad thing to have the agency perform a routine benefit analysis as to how best allocate the resource.

There were no mechanical problems with the ski lift from which the 18-year-old Upton youth fell to his death reported a spokesman for Ski Ward. The Department of Public Safety inspected the lift chair after the accident and found no problems.

Each lift chair at the facility has a front bar to prevent skiers from falling.

The tragic fall demonstrates how important simple safety precautions can change outcomes. Many guests at ski resorts don't bother with lowering the front bar, but every season there are, at least, handful deaths when skiers fall from their ski lift chair. Some fall because a medical condition such as altitude sickness causes faintness, others are bounced out because of "burp" on the lift or the rowdiness of chair companions. Whatever the cause, having a front bar can often be the thing that prevents a fall from a deadly height.