Winter Park, CO – A 49-year-old Fraser County, Colo. man was found dead in a tree well Friday on U.S. Forest Service land just east of Mary Jane Mountain in Winter Park.nThe man, who was snowboarding, was reported missing to authorities Friday afternoon. Searchers from the Winter Park Ski Patrol and the Grand County Sheriff’s Department found the unidentified man in an area known locally as 40 Gate. He was unresponsive at the scene and pronounced dead.

The victim entered the backcountry through an access gate from Winter Park Resort.