University of Colorado student Jake Koltun — who died while skiing at Breckenridge this week — was a selfless, enthusiastic guy who loved the outdoors, friends said.

The Summit County Coroner’s Office responded to Breckenridge Medical Center at around 2:30 p.m. Monday for the death of Koltun, 22, according to Deputy Coroner Maggie Cox.

Koltun had been skiing an “expert area” at the resort’s Peak 7, she said. He was not wearing a helmet, Cox said.

Campus spokesman Ryan Huff confirmed that Koltun was a senior studying English on the Boulder campus. Koltun wrote on his Facebook page that he was from Alameda, Calif.

Friends knew him for his passion for skiing, which took him into the mountains nearly every weekend and led him to intern for Boulder-based Ski and Skiing magazines in the spring of 2014.

“He was just a fun guy to be around,” said Ryan Dionne, who oversees the magazines’ internship program. “He was always energetic, and he was hungry to learn. He was just wanting to soak everything up. He was really enthusiastic.”

Dionne said Koltun was a “die-hard skier” who loved everything about the sport and wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look at the industry.

He also loved the outdoors and being adventurous, said Maddy Gonzales, a Longmont native who graduated from CU in May 2014. The two had been dating since last year.

“Jake loved skiing,” she said. “He would have gone every day of the year if he could. He was very social, loved hanging out with friends and he loved making everyone laugh. He was a very selfless person and would put anyone’s needs before his own. … He was truly an amazing person with so much positive energy to put out into the world.

“Our friends and family all mourn the loss of Jake, but we know that he lives on in and around all of us everyday, and for that we can smile.”

Recently, Koltun was known for his bushy brown beard. Kevin McDonagh, a classmate who sometimes skied with Koltun, said the beard was the product of an ongoing bet with another friend.

“First one to shave lost,” McDonagh said. “That’s how the beard came about, and it’s been growing ever since.”

That anecdote represented Koltun’s “fun-loving” personality, McDonagh said.

“He was funny,” he said. “He was always smiling. Every time I was around him, he was excited to see me. He lit up the room and was just a good person.”

McDonagh said he was shocked to hear that Koltun, an “expert skier,” had died. He said Koltun skied all kinds of difficult terrain.

“It’s kind of the inherent risk of the sport,” he said. “I’ve known other people who have passed because of skiing, and it’s the risk that we take when we’re on the mountains. It’s definitely going to be in the back of my head. It’s definitely going to make me want to wear a helmet. It’s not going to stop me from skiing; it’s what I love to do. I’ll definitely be thinking about him when I’m up there.”

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta