April 7, 1933 became the date of the first ski fatality in the Canadian Rockies. An avalanche on the slopes of Fossil Mountain took the life of Raymond Paley. He had climbed the mountain alone and was caught in the slide while descending. Paley was a highly regarded, 25 year old mathematician who had studied at Eton and Cambridge and was working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a Fellowship. He had previously climbed a dangerous slope on Braachiopod Mountain and was warned against skiing alone in dangerous terrain. However, Paley left Skoki Lodge after lunch on April 7 and skied alone to within 50 feet of the top of Fossil Mountain. His tracks led into a huge slab avalanche in which his body was found the following morning. Some people claim to have been visited by his ghost while skiing in the area.