An employee death occurred at Aspen Snowmass in recent days, with the local coroner’s office reporting that the fatality was related to a skiing accident that occurred on morning of January 22 on Lower Creekside run.

The Aspen Times reports that the Aspen Skiing Company employee who died was identified as Rohan J. Verplank, of 48 and of Crested Butte.

This follows a December 19 death that took place at Aspen Mountain ski area, involving a skier colliding with a tree, making it the second reported death of the season that’s occurred on slopes operated by Aspen Skiing Company. A skier also died in the Aspen area while en route to a backcountry hut on January 24.

Additional details related to the cause of the accident that resulted in the more recent employee death have not been released. Lower Creekside is an intermediate-rated run that funnels down to the Two Creeks base area. Per the current terrain report, it is open but not groomed as of January 29. This may not reflect its status on the day that Verplank’s death occurred.

This appears to be the fifth death to occur at an established Colorado ski area during the 2025-2026 season, following the aforementioned death at Aspen Mountain, two deaths at Keystone, and one death at Copper.

Condolences go out to family and friends impacted by Verplank’s death.

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