The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a man or boy wanted in two attempted sexual assaults on teenage girls in the past two weeks at Monarch Mountain. The suspect fired a gun during one attempted assault.

“In both cases the suspect rode the lift with the victims then followed them down the ski run to a point where he then forced them into the trees and tried to sexually assault them,” the office said in a news release on Friday. “In the second incident, the suspect pulled a handgun and fired the weapon in an attempt to coerce the victim to cooperate.”

The office said in both instances the victims were teen girls getting on a lift alone. Both were able to escape before the suspect fled.

The sheriff’s office described the suspect as a white, teenage male, approximately 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet 1 inch in height and weighing about 140 pounds. The suspect is believed to have red hair and possibly freckles on his face, the office said.

“The Monarch ski area and its management are cooperating fully with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s in the investigation of these incidents,” the office said.

Monarch is located about 20 miles west of Salida on U.S. 50 off Monarch Pass.

“Our ski patrol did receive the reports and contacted law enforcement to address the situation,” said Jessie Smith, a spokeswoman for the resort. “Here at Monarch we have all our staff aware of who they should be looking for.”

Smith said she does not expect the investigation to affect daily operations.

“Everyone on staff has their eyes out for this person,” she said.

The sheriff’s office declined to release further details in the assaults beyond a news release.

“What we are really looking to do is get this information out to get a tip back,” Undersheriff John Spezze said. “We really need the public’s help on this.”

Jennifer Rudolph, a spokeswoman for Colorado Ski County USA, which represents the state’s ski areas, called the attempted rapes a “very isolated, rare incident.

“I have not seen this before,” she said. “This is very unusual.”

Anyone with information relating to the attempted assaults is asked to contact either Sergeant Andy Rohrich at (719) 207-0056 or Detective Claudette Hysjulien at (719) 239-1600.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul