The man that was killed by a large avalanche while skiing near boundary lines of Aspen Highlands resort on Sunday has been identified by the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office as Gábor Házas, a 54-year-old from Budapest, Hungary.

According to a news release from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, the fatal avalanche was triggered in the Maroon Bowl area of Highland Peak at about 1:27 PM on Sunday. Two skiers were caught, but uninjured, while Házas was completely buried.

Maroon Bowl is a west-facing slope that drains into Maroon Creek Valley, located just out-of-bounds of Aspen Highlands. Members of the resort’s ski patrol were called for assistance, but were unable to enter the field to help the skiers due to the risk of triggering another slide.

Crews from Mountain Rescue Aspen were deployed to the area and called for a rescue helicopter to help access the skiers.

At about 2:15 PM, officials from the Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center confirmed that they were in contact with one of the skiers who had called 911. He reported that he was uninjured and that he had dug Házas out of the snow and had started performing CPR.

“Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol reported that they were in verbal contact with the third skier and were working on getting them to hike far enough up the mountainside that they could get a rope down to the single skier and help pull that individual uphill and into the ski area,” the release said.

Ski patrol teams were able to get the third skier to safety. According to the release, air resources responded to the scene, but could not find a safe place to land near the remaining skiers.

At around 4:15 PM, the skier stopped performing CPR.

“At 4:36 PM, the DFPC helicopter was able to insert two MRA rescuers at their location. The MRA rescuers then confirmed that the skier was deceased. At 4:45 PM the DFPC helicopter retrieved the deceased skier and the uninjured skier and flew them to the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport,” the release said.

Condolences go out to those impacted by this death.

While exactly how the skiers accessed the terrain was not specified in the report, the Maroon Bowl is generally accessed via gates found on the hike to Highlands Bowl. This would classify it as ‘sidecountry’ terrain – backcountry terrain that can be easily accessed via resort lifts or a road. When gates exist on resorts that lead to this type of terrain, exiting for access isn’t against the rules, but it’s important to know that the terrain is unmaintained and dangerous. This means that avalanche risk can be high. Those entering sidecountry terrain should have full knowledge of avalanche safety, also carrying avalanche safety gear that they know how to use.

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