Avalanche
A local man died Saturday afternoon when his snowmobile was hit by an avalanche in the Elkhorn Mountains in Oregon.
Richard Delbert Stephens, 33, of the North Powder area, died after becoming buried by the slide, Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash said.
Ash added that Stephens and three others were riding snowmobiles in the upper parts of the Rock Creek drainage when the avalanche occurred. Nobody else was injured and the party brought the victim’s body down from the mountains.
Baker County Dispatch received a call about the accident at 6:04 pm, immediately mobilized a Search and Rescue team.
Ash said Stephens’ companions brought his body down from the mountains.
The fatality brings the number of avalanche related deaths in the United States to eight this season.
