MALCOLM RIPPER lived near the snowfields and knew a perfect day for skiing when he saw one.

Last Sunday, in blazing sunshine, he took advantage of a rare day off and drove the half-hour from the family home he had built in Jindabyne to the slopes of Perisher, whose lifts he had helped to build.

About 2.30pm, he was skiing with a friend - another local - near the bottom of a run at Sun Valley when their skis clipped. They broke off in separate directions: the friend fell without injury, Mr Ripper, 48, veered into a tree and died almost instantly.

"He was a very good skier," his older brother, Doug Ripper, said yesterday.

"Their skis clipped. Malcolm went one way, the other guy went the other way … It was pretty instant, apparently. He had massive internal injuries. They got medical attention to him straight away. There was nothing they could do."

His death came on the same day that other two skiers lost their lives in accidents at the skiing resort.

Kevin Lane, 58, from St Ives, died on another run after hitting a tree. Tom Carr-Boyd, 22, from Wentworth Falls, died near Blue Lake about midday after he stepped on an ice cornice that gave way.

Police said yesterday the three bodies had been taken to Canberra for autopsies.

"The bodies have been formally identified to us," said Inspector Peter Rooney, of Cooma police. "We are now preparing paperwork for the coroner."

Perisher Blue's general manager, Gary Grant, said Sunday had been an ideal day for skiing. "It was one of those perfect days," he said yesterday. "Everyone was just having a ball when we got the call."

Mr Ripper moved to Jindabyne from Victoria more than a decade ago with his wife, Marissa, and their daughter, Michaela, who is now 13.

Doug Ripper said his brother, a former journalist and builder, had moved there to build ski lifts and fallen in love with the town and the community. "It makes you realise how quickly it can happen. He's the sort of bloke you expect to be here forever".

Friends of Mr Carr-Boyd yesterday described a popular sportsman. After graduating from the Australian College of Physical Education, he had started teaching, and intended to live and work in Canada and Europe.

"He was a gun skier; he loved it," a friend said.

"He was a great guy who loved life. He was good friends with everybody; everybody loved him.