Pagosa Springs, CO – An off-duty Keystone ski patroller died in an avalanche on Thursday on Colorado’s Wolf Creek Pass.

Andre Hartlies, 37, originally from Australia, was skiing with two companions on a 40-degree slope in a popular backcountry skiing area near the top of the pass when the slide released. The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office reports that although they were skiing the slope one at a time, the second skier triggered the slide, which broke above the third skier and sucked him into it. Two in the party were able to dig themselves out. One sustained a knee injury and the other was unharmed, while the skier who triggered the slide died at the scene.

The avalanche broke three feet deep, 600 feet wide and ran for about 600 vertical feet, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CIAC). The area had received approximately 30 inches of snowfall in recent days and the CIAC on Thursday morning had rated the avalanche danger in the area as “considerable.” The victim’s body was scheduled to be recovered today as conditions on Thursday prevented extrication.

The avalanche occurred near Wolf Creek Ski Area, although the trio did not use the resort’s lifts to access the backcountry, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Thursday’s fatality was the sixth avalanche death in Colorado this season, surpassing the annual average of 5.5 with a couple of months still to go, and the 13th skier death in the state this winter.