CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. (AP) - The ski patrol at Washington’s Crystal Mountain Resort says a Seattle skier died when he apparently suffocated in a tree well.
The ski patrol says a skier told patrol members shortly before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that her skiing partner was missing. KOMO-TV reports that the patrol says the man had last been seen about 90 minutes earlier.
Ski patrol members spotted some ski equipment near the base of a tree and located the 35-year-old man. They dug him out and began CPR but he died. He was not immediately identified.
Snow immersion suffocation can happen when a skier falls, usually headfirst, into deep loose snow at the base of a tree and becomes immobilized under the snow.
The resort’s ski patrol director, Paul Baugher, says it’s important to ski with a partner and keep each other in sight.
Crystal Mountain has gotten 19 inches of snow in the past 24 hours.
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