Argentière, France – A 26-year-old British snowboarder is on life support in a French hospital after suffering cardiac arrest in a fall on Saturday at the ski resort of Chamonix in the French Alps.

Emily Watts of Suffolk, U.K., who goes by the name “Mimi” and was said to be an experienced snowboarder, was spending the winter working in Chamonix, where snow was falling throughout much of the day on Saturday. She reportedly fell down a steep incline at the top of the Pierre a Ric piste in in Les Grand Montets and landed head first in a snow drift around 4 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon. After apparently being unable to extricate herself, rescuers pulled Watts from the snow after a 45-minute burial and was in full cardiac arrest. No one else was believed to have been involved in the incident.

Watts’ family members, who have traveled to her bedside in France, indicate that doctors fear that Watts suffered brain damage after such an extensive burial and cardiac arrest, and is unlikely to survive the ordeal. The British Foreign Office is providing consular assistance to the family.