A dedicated Idaho physician and skilled backcountry skier was killed on an Idaho mountain Friday in an avalanche that he accidentally triggered while climbing down the mountain with his girlfriend, according to reports.

Dr. Terrence “Terry” O’Connor, 48, died on Donaldson Peak on Friday, Custer County Coroner Chad Workman told the Idaho Mountain Express. 

He worked as an Emergency Department physician at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center, which is about 150 miles east of Boise.

O’Connor was “downclimbing” with another experienced backcountry skier when he “triggered and was caught in a small wind slab avalanche,” according to a joint report by the Sawtooth Avalanche Center and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

His girlfriend, also an experienced backcountry skier, desperately dug him out of the 5 feet of packed snow, but he did not survive the accident, according to the preliminary report by Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

The pair was traversing down Donaldson Peak in Idaho’s Lost River Range when the tragedy struck, officials said.

The girlfriend who has not been named, used a satellite phone to call for help, then climbed down to try to recuse O’Connor. She found him using a rescue transceiver and probe, according to the report.

Using a shovel, she managed to free him from the snow and began CPR.

“Search and rescue teams responded and evacuated Skier 1, but he did not survive the accident,” the Sawtooth Avalanche Center said. 

In addition to his work in the Emergency Room, O’Connor previously directed the Blaine County Ambulance District. He had also been recognized by the Idaho Hospital Association and the South Central Public Health District for his “patient-focused” bedside manner and dedication to the community, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Terry was an outstanding physician and played a pivotal role in the early days of the COVID pandemic, really demonstrating the public health role of the EMS medical director within a community. His loss will be missed not only in the valley itself but throughout the entire state and region,” the Idaho EMS Physician Commission said in a Saturday statement. “We express our condolences to his family and the Wood River Fire and EMS community.”

The tragedy comes just one day after two skiers, aged 23 and 32, were killed in an avalanche at Utah’s Lone Peak Canyon.

A third skier caught in the snowslide managed to dig himself out and is in fair condition.

At least 16 people have been killed in avalanches this past winter, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. An average of 30 people die in snowslides each year in the US.

Avalanche safety specialists say their job has become more difficult in recent years as climate change brings extreme weather.