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A 22-year-old man from Littleton fell 1,500 feet to his death while backcountry skiing Monday in New Zealand, officials said.
Jeffrey Charles Atkinson was skiing in the Treble Cone ski area backcountry when he either slipped into or cut loose a sheet of ice that carried him into a deep canyon.
Police and Alpine Cliff Rescue responded to the incident about an hour later, according to local police.
Treble Cone is near Wanaka, New Zealand, and is the largest ski area in Queenstown’s Southern Lakes District, “boasting the longest vertical rise,” according to the its website.
The resort’s season ended Sept. 27, and the accident happened outside the ski area boundaries.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or
