Beloved skier and veteran employee of Mammoth Mountain Bernie Rosow suddenly died while backcountry skiing in the Sierra Nevada on Thursday, leaving behind a wife, son and a community of friends who adored his endless excitement for skiing.

Rosow was climbing Bloody Mountain, an iconic peak near the town of Mammoth Lakes, with friends when he suddenly collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to renowned professional photographer Christian Pondella, who was with him at the time.

“Everything was normal, just a typical day. Just out of the blue he said, ‘My back hurts, it hurts between my shoulders,’” Pondella said in a phone interview. Rosow then sat down on the slope and stopped responding to his friends’ questions, Pondella said.

“It happened so quick,” Pondella said. “Two minutes before that he was having normal conversations.”

Pondella said they called search and rescue and a team arrived by helicopter but was not able to revive him. Amber Feld, Rosow’s partner, told SFGATE in an email that the family is still waiting on an autopsy for confirmation on a cause of death but it appears to be a heart health incident.

“We are absolutely devastated,” Feld said in an email. “Bernie was his eight-year-old son Alexander’s favorite person in the entire world.” 

Rosow was born in Vermont but moved to Mammoth Mountain in the early 2000s, where he made a name for himself for his creative and powerful skiing in both the park and backcountry. He told Black Crows Skis in 2020 that he originally wanted to be a professional skier but pivoted to working for the mountain as a snowcat operator when the professional career didn’t pan out. He said that he lived in a tent in the woods of Mammoth Lakes when he first came to town.

“I was sleeping in my tent in the woods looking for work. I knew I didn’t want to work in the day because I wanted to ski. And a friend of mine was like, ‘You should be a snowcat operator,’” Rosow said in a video interview.

Emily van Greuning, a spokesperson for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, said Rosow had worked for the resort’s snowcat crew for over 25 years. 

“He will be missed greatly by the Mammoth family and surrounding community,” van Greuning said in an email. “His passion for the sport was aspirational, and his legacy will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.”

Rosow told skimag.com last year that the only powder day he had missed in 20 years was when his son was born. Pondella said he was a committed partner and father who would always be taking his kid on an adventure, whether it was skiing or skateboarding or playing with radio-controlled cars.

“He loved his partner and he loved his kid,” Pondella said. “When we were hanging out he would talk about them a lot.”

Rosow documented his adventures on his TikTok and Instagram accounts, where he amassed over 100,000 followers. Pondella said Rosow’s endless energy amazed everyone who knew him.

“A lot of us as friends couldn’t figure out how he just had the energy. He would ski all day and then work from 4 p.m. to midnight, come home, get to bed at whatever time, and then be the first one at the mountain the next day and do it all over again,” Pondella said. 

His devotion to the mountains turned him into one of the best skiers at Mammoth, and a widely known local who nearly everyone wanted to ski with.

“He was one of the more talented skiers I’ve ever skied with, and I’ve photographed the world’s best skiers over the last 25 years of my life,” Pondella said.