State police say the death of a St. Lawrence University student who was skiing on Whiteface Mountain has been ruled accidental.

On Saturday, New York State Police investigators and uniform personnel investigated a skiing death at Whiteface Mountain.

Around 11 a.m., Lukas A. Harvey, 22, of Castleton, Vt., was skiing with friends at the mountain and traversing lower Northway trail when he fell and collided with a small group of hardwood trees, troopers said.

Lifesaving measures were attempted at the scene, to no avail. Essex County Coroner Francis Whitelaw responded and removed Harvey's body to Adirondack Medical Center, Saranac Lake, where an autopsy was conducted on Monday.

The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries due to a skiing accident. Whitelaw ruled the manner of death to be accidental, troopers said.

St. Lawrence University shortly after Harvey’s death posted a tribute to him on the school website.

“Luke was known all over campus for his outstanding academic record and his diverse circle of friends. His geology major was coupled with a minor in government. Last summer, Luke was awarded a University Fellowship and based on his research he received the Austin A. Sartin Best Poster Award by the Sigma Gamma Epsilon National Honor Society at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. His geology research agenda was already extensive in his travels to North Dakota and Honduras as a NY6 Research Fellow in 2016. He studied abroad last spring at the University of Otago in New Zealand and volunteered at St. Mary’s School in Canton as a reading tutor. Luke was a much-admired CA, a devoted member of the ATO fraternity, and was a very popular kitchen staffer at KDS sorority for two years,” the tribute letter from SLU president Bill Fox reads. “His outstanding St. Lawrence résumé is, of course, a much smaller measure than the wonderful person he was to so many of us on campus. He touched us with the flame and light of a beautiful heart. His mother told me that he absolutely loved everything about St. Lawrence, most especially his classmates.”