Former college skier dies at Palisades Tahoe, fifth fatality at Sierra-area resorts (2025)

A 26-year-old former college skiing champion died Saturday at Palisades Tahoe after she suffered a head injury, authorities said, marking the fourth fatality this season at Lake Tahoe-area resorts and the fifth across the Sierra Nevada this year.

The skier was identified as Ellery Dolan Curtis, better known as Ellie, a native of Waitsfield, Vermont, and a 2022 graduate of Dartmouth College.

According to the school’s athletic department, Curtis earned an All-America Second Team spot her senior year after placing eighth in the giant slalom at the NCAA Championships and was the seventh-ranked women’s alpine skier in the East after four seasons for the Big Green. She was also named thrice to the USCSCA National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team.

She died about 3:45 p.m. on terrain served by the KT-22 chairlift, Palisades Tahoe officials said in a statement. Ski patrol responded immediately and provided on-site medical care, but the skier succumbed to her injuries. Officials did not disclose how Curtis had been injured.

“Our thoughts go out to their loved ones during this difficult time,” the resort said.

According to Powder Magazine, Curtis was skiing with friends on an unmarked trail known as “Ah Chute,” located within Rock Garden on KT-22, according to Powder Senior Editor Matt Lorelli, who was riding with Curtis’ group.

“Ski patrol responded to the scene within two minutes,” Lorelli wrote. “But Curtis ultimately passed away from her injuries. ... (Ski patrol) did everything they could.”

Lorelli said he had only met Curtis that day but wrote that “her smile and love for skiing were immediately infectious.”

After graduation, Curtis had settled in the Bay Area and joined the California Public Utilities Commission as an analyst in September.

“Ellie was a valued member of the CPUC, and she will be deeply missed,” the commission said in a statement. “She came to the CPUC to protect the environment she cared about so deeply and was very excited about starting her career here. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, colleagues, and all who were touched by her kindness.”

Curtis’ death came one month after a Palisades ski patroller suffered a leg injury while traveling to perform avalanche mitigation along KT-22’s terrain.

Earlier this season, 62-year-old John Thomas Hughes died after colliding with a tree on the Alpine Meadows side of the resort. That incident happened Feb. 3 near the Scott chairlift. Hughes was pronounced dead at the scene despite immediate aid from ski patrol.

A ski patroller died following her injuries in a Feb. 14 avalanche at Mammoth Mountain, McClatchy News previously reported. Claire Murphy was one of two ski patrollers swept away by an avalanche on Lincoln Mountain in the resort while doing avalanche mitigation following a heavy snowstorm, the resort said

Last week, a 25-year-old snowboarder from Southern California died after suffering a head injury on the other side of the Tahoe Basin at Kirkwood. Roman Lacayo of Corona, an aspiring firefighter, was injured on an intermediate trail near the Sunrise Chairlift.

Lacayo’s death came the same day 7-year-old Adelyn Grimes of Reno died at Diamond Peak Ski Resort on the Nevada side of the region. Authorities said a boulder fell and fatally injured the girl in what the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled an accident.

This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 10:41 AM.