Benjamin Spillman

bspillman@rgj.com

A 43-year-old snowboarder from Connecticut died Thursday at Northstar California.

A spokeswoman from Vail Resorts, which operates Northstar, gave few details on the incident.

"Northstar, Northstar Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” an email attributed to Nadia Guerriero, vice president and general manager of Northstar California, stated. "Northstar Ski Patrol responded to an incident on advanced terrain, where the guest had been snowboarding at the resort. Northstar Fire Department provided further emergency care and pronounced the man deceased."

The name of the snowboarder was not released.

Dane Jasper, a guest at the resort, said he helped pull the snowboarder out of a tree well. Jasper said he was skiing in the trees near the Railsplitter run when he was summoned by another guest to help the snowboarder.

Jasper said the snowboarder was head down in a tree well, which is essentially a less dense layer of snow that forms around trees that can entrap skiers and snowboarders.

Jasper said he and two other guests helped pulled the snowboarder from the tree well as ski patrollers arrived to provide assistance.

The incident, Jasper said, was a harrowing reminder about risks inherent to skiing and snowboarding, particularly in deep snow and near trees.

"The message I would love to give people is that the snow is deeper than we have seen in a decade," Jasper said. "These tree wells are a real hazard, people should ski together."

It's the second documented death at Northstar this season. In December ski instructor Dennis Baltimore, 35, died after being struck by a snowboarder. The collision with the snowboarder sent Baltimore off course and crashed.

In another incident in December a skier died at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe after going into a closed area and triggering a fatal avalanche.

In January Squaw Alpine ski patroller Joe Zuiches died in an explosives accident while doing avalanche control at the resort.