BEND, Ore. (AP) — Despite being equipped with backcountry safety gear, an Oregon skier was killed in an avalanche Thursday in the Central Cascades, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said.
The 46-year-old man’s name has not been released, the Statesman Journal reported.
After the man was swept away, his skiing partner called 911. Using the man’s avalanche beacon, the friend was able to locate the man’s body in the snow and attempted to perform lifesaving measures, which were unsuccessful, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
Both skiers had avalanche beacons, shovels, helmets and avalanche probes, officials said. They had ventured into the steep caldera of Black Crater, just inside the Three Sisters Wilderness and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Bend.
The sheriff’s search and rescue unit and the U.S. Forest Service were unable to recover the body Thursday because of the extreme avalanche danger and not enough light.
Meteorologists say the West Coast has seen “once in a generation” snowfall accumulations this winter.
