VAIL, Colo. – An avalanche killed a 27-year-old man Friday while he was skiing outside the boundaries of a ski resort.
Jesse Brigham, a Vail Resorts employee, was skiing with two companions when the avalanche hit. The others pulled Brigham from the snow after 10 to 20 minutes, but attempts to revive him failed, Eagle County sheriff's spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly said.
They were skiing in a popular area known as the East Chutes on Vail Pass and each carried locator beacons, Cordingly said.
Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis said the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Brigham worked at a luxury hotel run by Vail Resorts' hotel management company, RockResorts. Chief Operating Officer Stan Brown said RockResorts extended its sympathies to Brigham's friends and family.
As much as three feet of snow is expected to fall in some mountain areas this weekend, which Scott Toeper of the Colorado Avalanche Center said will probably make conditions worse for possible avalanches.
It was the nation's 14th avalanche death this season.
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