A 24-year-old woman is dead following an ATV accident on Rock Island Trail, an off-road trail off of Tiger Road, near Breckenridge on Friday, Aug. 18, according to Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons. 

First responders deployed on ATVs around 4:10 p.m. to access a group of 12 young adults after receiving a call about a CPR event in progress on the remote, rugged road, FitzSimons said. A driver of one of the ATVs lost control and rolled the vehicle. A passenger was thrown off the back of it, while the ATV came to rest on top of the driver, pinning them. 

The road is described as “a hairy, steep, loose descent” to Tiger Road, according to the website MTBProject.com.

The driver was ultimately pronounced dead, and the passenger was transported to the hospital with injuries. No one else was hurt in the incident. 

“This is just one of those tragic backcountry accidents,” FitzSimons said in an interview Friday, Aug. 25. “It highlights how dangerous these activities are. People really need to be careful, especially inexperienced people, and what I mean by that is the difference between renters and people that own this type of equipment and ride it all the time. But it can happen to anyone.”

FitzSimons said he is unaware of the level of training and experience the group had or what kind of training the rental company provided. Members of the group were visiting from Miami, Florida, and had rented six ATVs from a shop in Breckenridge. 

He said the area contained “rugged” terrain, especially since the area received a lot of snow over the winter and a lot of rain through the spring and summer. 

“Those roads are rutted out,” he said. “They get a lot of drainage with the snowmelt and rain. The drainage really affects the terrain and makes it more and more rugged … It’s your typical backcountry, unmaintained — year after year, every time people use it, it just gets worse. People need to know what they’re renting and what they’re getting themselves into.”

All members of the group were wearing helmets. 

FitzSimons said it’s important to know what kind of terrain to expect when heading out, and recreationists can get that information from the U.S. Forest Service by calling (970) 468-5400 or by stopping by the office, which also has maps available, at 680 Blue River Parkway, Suite F, in Silverthorne. He also noted that ATV riders can wear extra protection, like body armor that protects the chest, arms, face and legs. 

“You can hit a rock,” he said regarding how easy it is to overturn an ATV. “You could hit all kinds of things that could just stop you in your tracks or throw you over the handlebars.”

He also advised recreationists to carry a device that can send emergency messages when cell service isn’t available, like a satellite-connected communication device. 

“They also need to know that when you’re out doing these remote trails, it’s going to be — there’s going to be a delay before responders can get to you.”

Whenever folks travel in the backcountry, they should carry the 10 essentials.