On March 11, Vail Mountain reported a “serious incident” involving a 20-year-old male skier from Leawood, Kansas. The skier had an accident on an intermediate trail in the Blue Sky Basin area of the resort, after which he was transported to Vail Health Hospital. He was later pronounced deceased.

Additional details about the accident have not been released. This is the second death within a month to occur in the Blue Sky Basin area of Vail Resort, though the previous death occurred on a ski lift, not a trail.

This is the 16th death of the 2019-2020 Colorado ski season, preceded by a March 9 death at Keystone. This puts the death toll on Colorado’s slopes during the 2019-2020 ski season just behind the deadly season of 2018-2019, during which 25 deaths occurred. By this point in last season, 17 deaths had occurred on Colorado’s slopes, including deaths both on- and off-resort.

“Vail Mountain, Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” said Beth Howard, vice president and chief operating officer at Vail Mountain.