Roseville snowboarder dies at Sugar Bowl

A snowboarder died at Sugar Bowl ski resort on Monday afternoon in the Crow’s Peak area of the resort.

The deceased snowboarder was identified as Justin McCollum, 20, of Roseville. He was reportedly an employee at Sugar Bowl.

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⤥ Summer Fun Starts Here ⤦

⤥ Summer Fun Starts Here ⤦

⤥ Summer Fun Starts Here ⤦

It was the second death in two days at a Lake Tahoe resort. On Sunday, a skier at Sierra-at-Tahoe also was killed.

According to Sgt. Kurt Walker of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, McCollum was snowboarding with a group of friends at the Strawberry Fields area, which is a double black diamond expert run. McCollum apparently fell behind his friends, who waited for him at the bottom of the run. When McCollum didn’t appear, the group took a lift back up the mountain and saw McCollum in a tree well. They called for help at 2:31 p.m., Walker reported.

According to a release, members of the ski patrol performed first aid and transported the individual to the base area where he was pronounced dead.  A helicopter and paramedics were standing by to provide transport to a local hospital. The cause of the fatality is unknown, according to the release, and the Placer County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation. Walker said McCollum was employed as a cashier at Sugar Bowl.

Although the recent week’s worth of stormy weather proved highly beneficial to Lake Tahoe ski resorts, there was some tragic news at one ski resort, while a possible dangerous situations were avoided at two other ski resorts

Creating dangerous conditions, the snowy terrain was partially to blame for claiming the life of a skier at Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort off Highway 50. Meanwhile, a skier was injured during a small avalanche Sunday at Kirkwood, while two skiers were rescued at Sugar Bowl on Monday morning.

Sierra-at-Tahoe: A man from Gold River became trapped in the snow and died Sunday on a run at Sierra. Yiwei Hu, 54, was found by other skiers around 1:43 p.m. at Sierra. Hu was located in an expert terrain in the Castle Creek area of the resort, according to a statement by El Dorado County Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Becker in a statement.

Skiers told deputies and volunteer searchers that Hu had fallen into a deep hole that had been created by an underflow of water. Hu was not breathing when he was found and could not be revived by rescuers.