A 54-year-old man fell into a tree well and suffocated while skiing at Whitefish ski resort on Saturday, January 11th, 2014. He was skiing with his son at the time. Whitefish had gotten 7 inches of fresh snow the night before the incident.

The son reportedly hiked back up the hill looking for his father and found his skis sticking out of the snow next to a tree.

This is the third death on the mountain since December of 2010, when a German exchange student died after falling into a tree well while skiing on a groomed trail. In January 2011, a 29-year-old snowboarder also died in the same area after falling into a tree well.

The family of the exchange student recently filed suit against Whitefish Mountain Resort, contending their son should have been warned of the danger posed by tree wells. – The Missoulian