This story was originally produced by the Valley News. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Former Dartmouth alpine ski champion Ellie Curtis is reported to have died in a ski accident at Palisades Tahoe resort in California on Saturday.
Curtis, 26, was skiing on a “challenging trail” at the resort when she suffered an injury, according to reporting from Powder Magazine. Ski patrollers responded to the scene within minutes but were unable to save her.
Curtis grew up in Waitsfield, Vt., where she was valedictorian at the Green Mountain Valley School and had a decorated career as a Dartmouth Alpine skier before she graduated from the college in 2022.
“Ellie was amazing. She was one of the hardest workers I’ve had in my 10 years at Dartmouth, and that’s off the snow also,” Dartmouth women’s Alpine ski coach John Dwyer said in an interview. “She was a tremendous student.”
During her Big Green career, Curtis was the kind of athlete who was “dedicated to being the best skier she could be” and “pushing the limits of skiing.”
“She was fast and unrelenting and there was nothing that was going to get in her way,” Dwyer said.
Curtis quickly gained notice on the women’s team and was named most improved in her freshman season in 2019, the Valley News reported at the time.
Over the next three years, Curtis was also named a three time USCSCA National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team athlete in recognition of her academic skill.
During her senior season as team captain, Curtis “led quietly,” and with “intensity” and her work paid off.
She was named to the All-America second team after placing eighth in giant slalom at NCAA championships in Park City, Utah, and to the All-East second team as the seventh-ranked women’s Alpine skier in the Eastern Conference.
Dwyer maintained that during her college career Curtis was “one of the fastest skiers in the country, there’s no doubt about that” and had the potential to move on to World Cup skiing if she so desired.
But by the time she finished at Dartmouth, she was ready and excited to move on to her career, graduating with a degree in government and environmental studies.
“I was certain she’d do big things,” Dwyer said.
After graduating from Dartmouth, Curtis moved to San Francisco where she worked for the state’s Public Utilities Commission, according to a LinkedIn profile.
