Moments before the snowboarding accident that claimed his life on Christmas Eve, Alex Westphal took a picture from the top of a Killington peak and sent it to his parents.

Four days after the 20-year-old Connecticut man's death, his father, Ryan Westphal said the picture was a comfort to him and his wife Ann because it was an image of what their son loved.

"It helped us to understand what happened," Ryan Westphal said Monday. "We know he was happy at that moment."

The Westphal family was visiting Vermont for the first time last week as part of a three-day holiday stay on the mountain, Westphal said.

On the second day on the mountain, the three-member family broke up, with Alex — who his father described as an avid snowboarder — heading for an expert slope while his mother and father went cross-country skiing.

State police say it's unclear what happened but minutes after Alex Westphal took a picture of the landscape at 11:54 a.m., he was found lying in the snow by a volunteer ski patrolman, at 12:01 p.m.

He was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center in Rutland where he was pronounced dead.

State Police Detective Sam Capogrossi said Westphal suffered massive internal injuries after striking an object like a pole or a sign post.

Ryan Westphal said he has reviewed reports filed by the police and the medical examiner's office and is satisfied that everything that could have been done was done to save his son's life.

Now, he said he and his wife are trying to focus less on how their son died and more on how he lived and the lives he touched.

That Alex Westphal, a 2008 graduate from Cheshire High School, was a big influence on those around him is undeniable.

A Facebook page established by Westphal's friends has already attracted 800 followers who have posted messages and shared photos of the athlete, model and aspiring musician. Alex Westphal was also pursuing a college education and was in his sophomore year at Hofstra University where he majored in business.

"It's been like a kind of touch to the shoulder or a pat on the back to read the things people are saying about him," Ryan Westphal said. "It's so comforting to hear from so many people."

Alex Westphal's funeral will be held this week in Iowa but a memorial service is being planned in Connecticut at some point in the near future.

brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com