DURANGO (AP) - A skier died Sunday after apparently skiing off a headwall near a lift at Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, sheriff's officials said.
Two people riding the lift alerted resort officials after spotting ski tracks leading off a short cliff in the direction of a hole in the snow below, La Plata County sheriff's spokesman Dan Bender said.
Ski patrol members arrived and found a man, described as a 19-year old Durango resident, head first in the snow, Bender said. They began CPR but were unable to revive him. The victim's name was withheld until his family could be notified.
Bender said the accident happened out of bounds of the ski area.
He said the victim was described as a good skier. The man had gone skiing Sunday with a friend, but Bender said it was not immediately clear whether the friend was with him when he got stuck in the snow.
A Purgatory spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Sunday night.
Two people riding the lift alerted resort officials after spotting ski tracks leading off a short cliff in the direction of a hole in the snow below, La Plata County sheriff's spokesman Dan Bender said.
Ski patrol members arrived and found a man, described as a 19-year old Durango resident, head first in the snow, Bender said. They began CPR but were unable to revive him. The victim's name was withheld until his family could be notified.
Bender said the accident happened out of bounds of the ski area.
He said the victim was described as a good skier. The man had gone skiing Sunday with a friend, but Bender said it was not immediately clear whether the friend was with him when he got stuck in the snow.
A Purgatory spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Sunday night.
