The Latest: Skier dies while being treated for hypothermia

DENVER – The Latest on the winter weather slamming much of the West (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

Authorities say one of two missing backcountry skiers who were found in the central Colorado mountains died while he was being treated for hypothermia.

The Lake County Office of Emergency Management posted on its Facebook page that Brett Beasley and a boy he was skiing with were found near Turquoise Lake west of Leadville on Thursday afternoon. The boy, whose name and age have not been released, was uninjured and was taken from the area on a snowmobile to be reunited with his family. Beasley was treated for hypothermia but did not survive.

The two had not been heard from since Wednesday. No other information was released.

Skiers throughout the West flocked to the mountains Thursday to take advantage of deep, fresh snow that also proved treacherous as a series of winter storms moved east and threatened turbulent weather across much of the Southeast.

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1 p.m.

A skier who dangled from a Colorado chairlift after his backpack got caught was rescued by an acrobat who climbed the lift tower and slid across the cable to reach him.

Mickey Wilson was able to cut the strap, sending the skier falling about 10 feet into the snow below, where a paramedic and ski patrollers waited Wednesday at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. He was taken to a hospital and released.

The rescue, captured in photos and video , followed two incidents in Utah in which people got tangled in lifts as people flocked to ski slopes when a storm brought heavy snow to the Rockies.

Wilson told The Denver Post that he and some bystanders first tried to create a human pyramid to reach the skier before the plan to use his slacklining skills “snapped together.”

Slacklining is similar to tightrope walking and was developed by mountain climbers as a way to test their balance. It has evolved into a sport of its own.

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8:15 a.m

A winter storm has swept aside two long-standing snow records in Boise, Idaho.

The National Weather Service says snow accumulating for several weeks reached 15 inches Thursday and broke the previous snow-depth record of 13 inches set twice in the mid-1980s.

The service also says that the 6.5 inches of snow that fell Wednesday eclipsed the 1951 record of 3.2 inches.

The service says another 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Idaho Office of Emergency Management says it has upped its awareness level due to the likelihood of flooding when temperatures rise above freezing, which is expected on Sunday.