The body of a 26-year-old male snowboarder was recovered today after an ice cave collapsed upon him yesterday around 4 pm on Mt. Hood, Oregon.
He was reportedly walking only 40 feet in front of 5 of his friends when the cave collapsed. It’s estimated that a chunk of ice the size of a school bus fell on him.
“Two of the other men were hit with debris from the collapse but were not injured. The other men attempted to dig into the collapse but could not do much due to the density of the snow and ice and danger of further falling debris.” – Hood River County Sheriff’s Office
A large rescue operation was in place yesterday to recover the snowboarder from the ice. They were hoping that he may have still be alive. At 11pm, the operation was stopped. At 4am this morning, they continued using chainsaws to reach the trapped man.
The trapped man’s body was found today underneath 10 feet of ice.
The 6 snowboarders were in the area of the ice cave scouting locations to film a snowboarding video when the collapse occurred.
Our hearts go out to everyone involved and all the friends and family of the deceased.
Must have been such a shock to the others. Very sad. RIP.
Very sad. Many of us have been in ice caves. Sad to hear it end like this.