Truckee, CA – A 52-year-old San Jose, Calif. woman died last month of a ruptured aorta in a ski accident at Northstar California near Lake Tahoe.

The Nevada County Coroner’s Office indicates that Cindy Tucker Mulcahy sustained the injury on the afternoon of Feb. 23 before she was found unconscious on the Castle Peak run in Northstar’s Backside terrain pod. It is unclear whether the exertion of skiing or Mulcahy’s impact with the ground broke the blood vessel which carries blood from the heart.

Obituaries indicate that Mulcahy was an accomplished skier who was the captain of her college ski team. Resort officials say that she was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.