CARRABASSETT VALLEY – A 50-year-old skier at Sugarloaf USA died after being struck from behind and sliding into a tree, authorities said.

Pamela Fountain of Northeast Harbor suffered a severe head injury in the accident and died Saturday at a Bangor hospital, according to a family member.

The accident reportedly happened when a 21-year-old man from southern Maine crashed into Fountain.

The collision occurred halfway down the mountain, and the momentum sent both skiers sliding into the trees, said James Costello, Sugarloaf’s vice president of marketing.

The man was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, where he was treated for injuries and released Sunday.

Police and the ski resort would not release the name of either person involved, but friends and relatives of Fountain confirmed her identity.

Costello said the last fatal skiing accident at Sugarloaf was in the mid-1990s. Police in Carrabassett Valley are investigating.