Las Vegas Man, 32, Killed in Rare Backwoods Avalanche While Skiing in Nevada, Officials Say

Abigail Adams
·2 min read
A stock photo Mt Charleston after a winter snow storm. Not far from Las Vegas, NV
A stock photo Mt Charleston after a winter snow storm. Not far from Las Vegas, NV

Getty

A Las Vegas man was killed Monday after he was caught in a rare Nevada avalanche while skiing.

Punan Zhou, 32, died in a backcountry avalanche in the Mount Charleston area, the Clark County Office of Coroner/Medical Examiner confirms to PEOPLE, adding that the skier's death "was determined to be an accident due to blunt force trauma."

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Lt. Matthew Marlow said Zhou was initially injured in the avalanche while skiing at 11,000-feet on the Mummy Spring Trail around midday, according to CBS affiliate KLAS-TV.

Zhou was with four other skiers when the avalanche began, the outlet reported. Each of the skiers in his group had a locator beacon, which reportedly allowed the victim's friends to find him in the snow.

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CPR was performed on Zhou for 30 minutes but he could not be revived, Marlow said.

Transporting Zhou's body down the mountain took approximately three hours due to weather conditions at the time as well as the mountain terrain, KLAS reported.

The LVMPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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A spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service has confirmed that Zhou's injuries were caused by the avalanche, according to KTNV and NBC affiliate KSNV.

The U.S. Forest Service did not immediately responded to PEOPLE's requests for comment.

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Jonathan Stein of the U.S. Forest Service said Monday's rare avalanche was triggered by new snowpack with increased moisture, per KLAS.

Lee Canyon, located on a different portion of Mount Charleston, was closed on Tuesday "due to the significant amount of snow safety work and avalanche mitigation," according to a post on its Facebook page.