A skier from California died yesterday in the experts-only Lake Chutes at Breckenridge.
Summit County Sheriff’s Office reports the man was skiing solo around 1:30 p.m. when witnesses saw him crash above treeline on a run rated double-black. He was wearing a helmet.
Breck ski patrol responded to calls for help and gave CPR on scene before transporting the victim to the Peak 8 clinic, where he was pronounced dead. His name and age are pending through Summit County coroner.
This is the seventh confirmed inbounds fatality of the ski season in Colorado and the first at Breckenridge.
Lake Chutes is serious terrain. The only way to get there is by hiking from the top of Imperial Chair, which is the highest chairlift in North America at 12,840 feet. There are large cliffs, chutes and other obstacles on slopes steeper than 40 degrees.
Lake Chutes had been open less than a week when the skier died. Snowfall this season is historically lean. Breckenridge today reports a base of 44 inches with 128 inches total since opening day. Last year at this time Breck had over 200 inches total with a deeper base.
Preview image by PeakRankings.