Avalanche — Northeast Oregon, Oregon

1999-01-29 · Northeast Oregon, Oregon

Event narrative

Two cross country skiers and a snowboarder were on a back country outing near Spout Springs. At one point, the snowboarder stopped to adjust his bindings and his friends skied on. When they realized that their friend had not followed, they hiked back uphill and saw the aftermath of a 250-yard snowslide. They were not able to find him and called for help. Search and rescue crews using probes and a specially trained dog were called off around midnight because of high wind and blowing snow. About 50 people resumed the search the next morning and found the snowboarder's body around 11:30 AM.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5681113. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.