The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed a Canadian skier died while on Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana over the weekend.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 56-year-old was with a friend when they became separated.
The friend reported him missing. The victim’s body was found at 3:15 p.m. on Mar. 2, following a two-hour search by the resort’s ski patrol.
The victim was discovered in a tree well on the property.
Buffalo Hill Funeral Home, which is caring for the family, identified the skier as Charles “Chuck” Douglas James Herr, of Calgary.
Later that night in a separate incident, another Canadian was snowboarding when he also went missing around 6:30 p.m. With the help of Flathead Search and Rescue and Nordic Ski Patrol, the man was found shortly before midnight out of bounds. The man told rescuers that he had lost his way in the dark.
In a statement, the resort said: “Any death at our resort is a tragedy and felt deeply by the entire Whitefish Mountain Resort community. This accident is another unfortunate reminder that tree wells are an inherent risk of the sport.”
The resort encouraged guests to take extra caution when skiing in treed areas and deep snow.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office thanked volunteers who worked countless hours over the last two weeks in multiple search and rescue cases in the area.
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