A ski patroller descends Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington in January. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

WILMINGTON — A 31-year-old from New Jersey is in critical condition after crashing into trees at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center on Sunday in the second publicly known critical-injury skiing crash to happen on the mountain in just over a one-week period.

New York State Police Troop B, Wilmington Fire and Rescue, and Whiteface Ski Patrol responded to the ski center in Wilmington following a report of an injured skier at around 11:35 a.m. Sunday, according to Troop B Public Information Officer Brandi Ashley. The skier had lost control while skiing and struck trees, Ashley said. She didn’t know which trail the person was skiing on at the time of the crash.

Wilmington Fire and Rescue squad members rendered aid and transported the skier to the lower parking lot. The squad secured a landing zone for a helicopter that transported the skier to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont. As of press time Monday, Ashley said the skier was listed in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Laurianne St. Louis, the EMS supervisor and rescue lieutenant of Wilmington Fire and Rescue, said the skier suffered several “traumatic” injuries.

The crash comes about a week after a 14-year-old North Country School student was airlifted off the mountain on Feb. 11 after crashing and suffering a head injury. On Monday, Ashley said the young male skier was still listed as being in critical condition by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was receiving care.

St. Louis said it’s “quite common” for Wilmington Fire and Rescue to respond to skiing-related crashes at Whiteface every year. The squad has responded to 20 crashes at Whiteface in 2023 alone, and members were on their 21st call to Whiteface on Monday as St. Louis spoke to the Enterprise. State Police have responded to three skiing-related crashes on Whiteface this year, according to Ashley — the two critical-injury crashes and one that didn’t end up requiring medical attention. St. Louis said State Police are only called to the mountain when a crash is “really bad.”

St. Louis said her department assumes that icy conditions on the mountain over the last couple of weeks have contributed to the occurrence of crashes there. She said rescue calls to Whiteface are more frequent when the weather is icy.

Darcy Norfolk, the director of communications for the state Olympic Regional Development Authority which manages the ski center, deferred comment about Sunday’s skiing crash to State Police.