WOLF CREEK — A 22-year-old Copper Mountain ski patrol trainee died, apparently Tuesday afternoon, when he fell head first into deep snow at Wolf Creek Ski Area. He was found Wednesday morning by a snowboarder from Durango.

Alex Singer, a senior studying ecology and evolutionary biology, had purchased a half-day pass Tuesday, which meant he could start skiing at noon, Mineral County Coroner Charles Downing said Thursday.

The cause of death was suffocation and hypothermia, Downing said. Singer was inbounds but was skiing in an ungroomed area, he said.

“We're saddened by the loss, and our condolences go to Alex's family,” said Copper Mountain spokeswoman Lauren Pelletreau.

Singer, whose Colorado driver's license shows he was 6 feet 4 inches tall, fell into a tree well — an area of loose snow beneath a tree, Downing said. Only his boots and skis were visible, Downing said.

Singer's red Volvo station wagon was left in the Wolf Creek parking lot overnight, Wolf Creek CEO Davey Pitcher said. In such cases, an unoccupied vehicle is noted, but no effort is made to locate the owner, Pitcher said.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera, Singer was from Chappaqua, N.Y., where his parents still live. The paper said he was a senior at the University of Colorado.