A San Jose State student and ski instructor became the third fatality at Northstar this month. Photo: Northstar//Instagram
A 21-year-old skier was found dead at Northstar Resort on Thursday morning after a search began the previous night. It’s the third tragedy to strike the ski resort in the past two weeks.
The skier, identified as Colin Kang of Fremont, California, was a San Jose State student and an employee of the resort.
The search for Kang began on Wednesday at 11 p.m. The sheriff’s office received a call about a possible missing person and discovered Kang’s car still in the Northstar parking lot, leading them to believe that he did not return from skiing.
He was found at 9 a.m. the following morning on the Super Pine Glade Trail – a tree run between Martis and Stampede trails. The cause of death has not been released.
“We are heartbroken by this loss,” Tara Schoedinger, general manager of Northstar, told ABC 7. “Our deepest sympathies are with his family and loved ones, and with the team members who had the privilege of working alongside him.”
The incident comes just two weeks after a 26-year-old skier died on February 6 at Northstar under unspecified circumstances on the resort’s Martis trail. Nine days later, on February 15, a 53-year-old skier died in a collision with another skier, who survived but was hospitalized.
Kang is the latest in a string of fatal accidents in the Sierra Nevada. Earlier this week, eight skiers died in a backcountry avalanche in the Tahoe area, with one skier still missing, presumed dead.
Northstar is in the northern Lake Tahoe area with 3,170 skiable acres and 20 lifts. It’s located six miles from the town of Truckee.
