Skier Fatally Crashes Attempting Road Gap Near Winter Park, CO

Ella Boyd
·1 min read
41

A 21-year-old skier died on Tuesday, April 9th, after attempting to jump over U.S. 40 near the Berthoud Pass summit on Tuesday, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.

The skier landed on the pavement after attempting to gap the width of Highway 40 around 3 p.m., the sheriff’s office said in a news release Wednesday. See below.

The Grand County Communications Center received a 911 call reporting that the man was unconscious and not breathing.

Although CPR was administered from those nearby, emergency responders determined that the man was deceased. He has not yet been publicly identified.

While this is an extreme feat, it is not all that uncommon in the ski world. Josh Daiek, for example, made waves in ski media back in 2019 when he sent a back-flip over Highway 50 outside South Lake Tahoe.

Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin told CBS News that he is aware that spots along Highway 40 are popular for backcountry skiers, but they also present danger.

"The ski injuries, risky for the tubing that goes on up there, risky for the avalanches," Schroetlin said. "It is Colorado's backcountry and the backcountry has inherent risk. Yesterday was one of those risks."

Zach Humphreys, a Boulder-based cinematographer and skier, wrote, "my heart hurts for this one. The kid was a ripper with a great future."

Our thoughts are with this skier and those involved with the incident during this time.

Related: Breckenridge Announces Closing Day For Peaks 9 & 10

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