An avalanche in America has killed a ski patroller who worked at Queenstown’s The Remarkables for the past five seasons. 

Andre Hartlief was backcountry skiing with two other men on a steep slope near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado, when an avalanche buried him last Thursday. 

Up to 40 people worked into the night to retrieve his body. 

Hartlief – who was off-duty that day – was working on a ski patrol exchange programme with Keystone Ski Resort. 

Six people have been killed in Colorado avalanches this season. 

The Remarkables Ski Area manager Ross Lawrence says Australian-born Hartlief was “a very confident guy in the field and well-respected amongst his peers”. 

“Andre certainly had a passion for the mountains and a strong desire to do well in his chosen field.” 

Hartlief had also worked at Colorado’s Snowmass and Arapahoe Basin ski areas. 

An obituary in Colorado’s Aspen Daily News states: “His contagious smile and thirst for life was inspiring”.