Telluride, CO – A 38-year-old Telluride man died on Monday from injuries sustained in an avalanche in the Telluride sidecountry.

Nathanael Soules was snowboarding alone on Monday when a slide buried him on U.S. Forest Service land in Fingers section in the Contention path of the Bear Creek drainage. Bear Creek is outside of the ski resort’s boundary but accessible via backcountry gates near the top of The Plunge lift (#9). Telluride Ski Resort briefly offered backcountry skiing in the Bear Creek area in 2010 before disputes over mining claims forced them to pull the plug on the service. Mining claim owners have since threatened to file trespass charges against backcountry skiers who cross their claims.

Two skiers found Soules buried under four feet of avalanche debris without a pulse and with massive head injuries, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a report filed by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CIAC), Soules was carried approximately 800 vertical feet by the slide, which began on an easterly aspect in an area below treeline. The accident occurred shortly after a storm dropped 10 inches of new snow on the area, and the CIAC on Monday morning had issued an avalanche warning for the region.

Soules had deployed an ABS avalanche air bag, but the Sheriff’s Office indicates that it may have been damaged in the slide. It was found at the scene in a deflated state. He was also carrying an Avalung breathing apparatus.

Soules was employed as the Events and Activities Coordinator for the Telluride Ski and Golf Club, and is survived by his wife and their young son. His death is the fifth avalanche fatality, and the 12th skier fatality in Colorado this season.