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Skier found dead at Breckenridge is 2nd death of season there

Kevin Fixler Summit Daily

A Denver man reported missing at Breckenridge Ski Resort at about 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, was found unresponsive by ski patrol the next day and pronounced dead later that morning.

Sean Haberthier, 47, died of a skull fracture after skiing into a tree. Summit County Coroner Regan Wood reported Haberthier was not wearing a helmet. Friends on Facebook saying goodbye to their friend identified the site of the incident as the expert Lower Boneyard run off the Peak 8 6-Chair, but that had not been confirmed by resort or county personnel.

“Breckenridge Ski Resort, Breckenridge Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” John Buhler, vice president and COO of Breckenridge’s ski area, said in a statement.

The fatality marks the second in the county this ski season — both at Breckenridge — after Longmont resident Kevin Pitts, 48, struck a tree on Dec. 19.

It’s also the state’s third casualty on a ski hill for 2016-17 after 40-year-old San Antonian Kelly Huber plunged to her death from a chairlift at Ski Granby Ranch due to what was determined to be a mechanical malfunction. Huber’s two daughters, 12 and 9, also fell the 25 feet off the Quick Draw Express lift, but both survived.

Nine people died while skiing or snowboarding in Colorado last season, six of whom died in Summit County. According to the National Ski Areas Association, a Lakewood, Colorado-based trade group representing the country’s resort owners and operators, 39 fatalities were recorded nationwide during the 2015-16 ski year.

Four of those six Summit fatalities last year took place at Breckenridge, including the final three of the season — all in April. The six in the county matched the same total during the 2013-14 season, and topped the four from 2014-15.


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