Two people were killed in an avalanche in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, authorities said Tuesday.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said that its search and rescue unit had recovered two bodies from near a snowmobile trail.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
BEND, Ore. (AP) — Search and rescue crews were responding Tuesday to a report that an avalanche might have buried at least one person near a snowmobile trail in Oregon’s Central Cascade Mountains.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said it responded overnight to an area known as Happy Valley, near Broken Top peak. The area is also west of the city of Bend and northeast of Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. The sheriff’s office didn’t say how many people were involved or what they were doing at the time of the avalanche.
The episode was reported near a snowmobile trail, the Central Oregon Avalanche Center said on social media in a post around noon Tuesday. The Avalanche Center is supporting the sheriff’s office Search and Rescue team as needed.
“This is an active incident, and we will provide updates as we are able,” the post said.
Avalanche danger in the Central Cascades is currently “considerable.” That’s a three on a scale of zero to five, according to the Avalanche Center forecast.
