Silverthorne, CO – A backcountry skier slid 1,500 feet to his death in rocks on Buffalo Mountain west of Silverthorne on Friday, the same day that a second skier died in an avalanche near Silverton, Colo.

Jeff Ipsen, 27, was descending the Silver Couloir on Buffalo Mountain with his brother and two friends on Friday when the incident occurred. The Summit County Coroner’s Office listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.

Summit County Rescue dispatched 35 rescuers to the scene, where CPR efforts were unsuccessful in reviving Ipsen. Flight for Life Colorado, the Summit County Ambulance Service, and Lake Dillon Fire Rescue also responded to the incident.

Separately, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office reported that John Knox McEwen Frank, 34, of Crested Butte, died in a wet slab avalanche on Friday afternoon near Ophir Pass, between Telluride and Silverton. He was the first in a group of four to descend the slope in the popular Upper Paradise Basin, which avalanched 550 feet wide, two feet deep and nearly 2,000 feet long.

Frank was located under seven feet of debris via his avalanche transceiver, with the aid of searchers that included a Warren Miller Entertainment film crew flying in the area with Telluride Helitrax.  Helitrax pilot Chuck MacFarland, who is also a San Miguel County deputy, ferried a paramedic, members of the Telluride Ski Patrol and avalanche rescue dogs to the scene to assist in the rescue. Buried for over 45 minutes, Frank was not breathing and had no pulse when unearthed.