David Gilletti, of Ledyard, was on a ski vacation with friends in Colorado Tuesday when tragedy struck.
The 55-year-old was killed when he skied into a tree at the Telluride ski area Tuesday morning. He was on an intermediate run in the Prospect Bowl area and died at the scene.
Gilletti skied off to the far left side of the run, where the snow apparently changed "from hard pack to something else," San Miguel County Coroner Bob Dempsey said. He "just caught an edge or something" and skied into the tree, Dempsey said.
Gilletti suffered chest trauma that might have ruptured his aorta.
Gilletti was skiing with friends but no one saw the crash, so the sheriff is requesting an autopsy, Dempsey said.
“His friends were behind and in front. When they came around the corner, they saw him lying by the tree,” San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mike Wescott told the Montrose Daily Press.
Three of Gilletti’s friends rushed to administer CPR, while the other member of the party skied down the mountain to alert ski patrol, the Montrose Daily Press reported. Ski patrol came and rendered aid until it became clear Gilletti was gone.
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Gilletti, an engineer, is survived by a wife and two grown daughters.
Gilletti is at least the second Connecticut resident to be killed in a skiing accident this year. Rebecca McGill, 16, of Barkhamsted, died last month after hitting a tree at Sugarloaf in Maine.
She was a student at Stratton Mountain School in Vermont and was at Sugarloaf with other students as part of an annual speed week training camp for competitive ski racers.
