Sad news out of La Pine, Oregon, where one snowboarder has died after an avalanche on Wednesday, March 15. According to KTVZ, dispatchers received the initial call for help around 1pm, bringing first responders into a recovery mission on the Newberry Volcano’s Paulina Peak, where the incident occurred.
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Wall told KTVZ that the male snowboarder had passed around at around 5:30pm.
According to Wall, search and rescue teams were “doing everything they can to complete the recovery [Wednesday night], but due to the extreme avalanche danger in the area, it might go into the wee hours.”
Three snowboarders, including the victim, had traveled to the 7,984-foot Paulina Peak on snowmobiles, snowboarding down the peak when the avalanche occurred. The other two snowboarders remained uninjured in the incident.
No other information about the victim has been released. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim during this time.
Image Credit: Central Oregon Avalanche Center via Facebook