Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Vail officials are asking skiers and snowboarders to stay away from the fresh powder.

The resort doesn't open until Friday and the hazards of riding or skiing while snowmaking and grooming and other preparations are under way is too great, they say.

The warning takes on greater importance following the Sunday death of a snowboarder who was killed in an avalanche near Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, which also has yet to open for the season.

Matthew Jamie Pierre, 38, of Big Sky, Mont., was killed Sunday afternoon.  Police said there has been no avalanche control on the mountain because the resort is closed.

The Deseret News reported that at least five avalanches had been reported in the Cottonwood Canyons over the weekend.

A forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center said he had received at least 10 reports of avalanches on Sunday alone, most of them triggered by snowboarders or skiers.

Pierre was a professional skier who set a world record cliff-jump in 2006 when he jumped 255 feet. He appeared in skiing films.

PHOTO:  Jamie Pierre in Warren Miller's "Children of Winter" film.  Courtesy of Warren Miller Entertainment and Will Wissman