British schoolboy killed in a skiing accident in the Rocky Mountains

A British boy involved in a skiing accident in the Rocky Mountains died from head injuries while wearing a "non-approved ski helmet".

Eleven-year-old Benjamin Trichler from Uffington, Oxfordshire, was seen skiing "too fast" before crashing into a tree on the slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado, authorities said this evening.

The cause of death was given as a "closed head injury".  And his death was ruled accidental, Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson said in a statement.

The coroner said the youngster had been staying in the Denver, Colorado area since December 21. He had arrived in Breckenridge with his family on December 30.

The alarm was raised at 9.31am on Thursday morning after an incident on the blue intermediate trail, called Bonanza, on peak 9 of the Breckenridge Ski Resort.

The mountain's ski patrol rushed to the scene and transported the boy off the mountain and took him to Breckenridge Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 10.14am today.

Coroner Joanne Richardson said in the statement: "On January 3 at approximately 09:30hrs, 11-year-old Benjamin Trichler, a male skier from Uffington, Oxfordshire UK was witnessed to be skiing too fast and crash into a tree."

A spokeswoman for the Vail Resorts ski destination where the accident happened, Nicky DeFord, said no-one else was involved in the accident, which occurred in clear weather.

She said in a statement earlier this evening: "Breckenridge Ski Resort, the Breckenridge Ski Patrol and the Vail Resorts family extend their deepest sympathy and support to all of his family and friends."