Fatality prompts Aspen to shut terrain

Aspen Skiing Co. said will use more signs and rope to close avalanche-prone terrain previously considered inaccessible after a review of its polices prompted by the death of an expert skier.

In a statement Thursday the company said that there are highly skilled skiers and riders now capable of tackling terrain once considered untouchable.

"Cliff bands, dense trees and narrow steep couloirs (a formation of snow or ice) that may have been viewed as unskiable in past years may not constitute natural barriers to entry for some individuals and will be treated as areas that need to be marked when closures are in place, depending upon the circumstances," the company said in a statement.

Blake Davidson, 25, of New Castle, died Dec. 21 after he and a colleague picked their way through rocks and patches of snow before jumping about 40 feet to the base of a cliff, which triggered an avalanche.

The snow slide swept Davidson into Snowmass Ski Area boundaries.

A closed sign had been posted at the top of the chute, but not further down where Davidson entered it.