So-called 'cat skiers,' like this group in Colorado, are taken to otherwise inaccessible fresh snow on treaded vehicles called snowcats. (Michael Socher)

A 32-year-old woman apparently died of suffocation while snowboarding on a mountain in southeastern B.C., police say.

The woman was not the victim of an avalanche, but died after falling into snow on the mountain Wednesday near the town of Kaslo, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said Thursday.

She was the only snowboarder among a group of skiers who had begun a run down the mountain and suddenly noticed she was missing, Moskaluk said.

"The guide returned up the hill and used his avalanche transceiver to locate this woman and found her partially submerged in the snow, head first."

Group was 'cat skiing'

The group had been staying at Retallack Lodge, which has no groomed ski or snowboard runs and specializes in so-called "cat skiing."

The activity involves guests being taken up a mountainside on a treaded vehicle called a snowcat and then traversing down the slopes on fresh snow.

Moskaluk could not say how long the woman was in the snow but she was unconscious and not breathing when found. Staff members performed CPR but were unable to revive her, he said.

The woman, whose name has not been released, is from southeastern B.C. and was an experienced snowboarder.

RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service are investigating, but the woman's death is not considered suspicious, said Moskaluk.