http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_13968203
CU-Boulder student killed in skiing accident at Wolf Creek
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By Laura Snider, Camera Staff Writer
datePosted: 12/10/2009 11:09:14 AM MST
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Alex Singer in Moab during spring break in 2009. (Courtesy of Josh Morton)
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The body of a 22-year-old University of Colorado student was found at the Wolf Creek Ski Area on Wednesday.
Alex
Singer, a senior studying ecology and evolutionary biology from
Chappaqua, N.Y, bought a half-day pass at the ski resort that sits
northeast of Pagosa Springs on Tuesday, said Mineral County Coroner
Charles Downing.
"His car stayed in the parking lot all night
long," he said. "So we are pretty sure the accident occurred sometime
Tuesday after he purchased his ticket."
On Wednesday, another skier found Singer buried in snow at the base of a tree, Downing said.
Singer was an avid skier, and he was training to work on ski patrol at Copper Mountain, according to his friends and family.
"He
lived for those powder days. He died doing something he loved," said
Josh Morton, Singer's roommate and also a senior at CU. "He went down
to Wolf Creek because they got 4 feet of snow."
Singer left
Boulder for the mountains on Tuesday morning, first stopping at
Breckenridge. But when he saw how little it had snowed there, he pushed
on for Wolf Creek, said Morton, a snowboarder who got in about 50 ski
days last winter with Singer.
"He was really intelligent and full of life," Morton said. "Anything active and outside he was always down for."
As
a high school student in New York, Singer set his heart on going to CU
after university recruiters showed him a poster of the campus, said his
mother, Susan Singer.
"He said, 'I'll look at any school, and
I'll go visit any college,'" Susan Singer remembered. " 'But I'm going
to the University of Colorado.'"
Alex Singer was already a good skier when he showed up for his freshman year.
"He's
been skiing all his life," his mom said. "He learned to ski at
Steamboat and Whistler. He wanted to be in the mountains all the time."
The family hopes to have a memorial service in Boulder, but details have not been set.
Singer
was the second CU student to die in a week. On Dec. 3, Transito "Tito"
Eduardo Torres, also a senior, died after police say he jumped from an
overpass onto U.S. 36.
"Our entire university community is
saddened by the death of Alex H. Singer," said Deb Coffin, CU dean of
students, in a statement to the media. "By all accounts, Alex was a
good student and a valued member of our community. Coming on the heels
of the passing of Transito 'Tito' Torres last week, this is an extra
blow to our community and our student body."
Coffin said
counseling services will be available to anyone who is affected through
the Office of Counseling and Psychological Services.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or sniderl@dailycamera.com.
