February 17, 2002, Mt. Bachelor backcountry

I was part of a Tacoma & Seattle Mountain Rescue response to assist the Deschutes Co. Oregon Sheriff's search for snowboarder missing on W side Mt. Bachelor. On Feb. 9 a young woman was boarding with two friends in an ungroomed, mostly moderate terrain, open/gladed/forested area accessible from the NW Express chair. Her friends lost contact with her and reported her missing. Looking for tracks Ski Patrol verified she had not crossed area boundary. After eight days of intensive searching/probing by 100? searchers ofÊ>3 square mile area, no sign. Indicates how important it is to ski in contact with others. BTW skiing was poor as no new snow in a week: Up top icy (one of our boarders broke finger in tree collision), wind affected; lower melt-freeze trap crust. No avalanche hazard.

Brent H