Found Deceased OR - Ryan Mather, 30, went snowboarding, Mt. Hood Meadows, Mt. Hood, 5 Apr 2022

[GuyfromCanada]

MOUNT HOOD, Ore. — Search crews are looking for an Aloha man who was reported missing on Tuesday night after he didn't return home from a snowboarding trip to Mt. Hood Meadows, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office (HRCSO) reported Wednesday morning.

The girlfriend of the missing snowboarder, 30-year-old Ryan Mather, reported her boyfriend missing at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Search crews found Mather's vehicle at Mt. Hood Meadows and began an overnight search, which was unsuccessful.

Crews will continue searching Wednesday in areas around the Shooting Star Express chair lift, Mather's last reported location from late Tuesday morning. Crews will also search some back country areas in that area.

Multiple search agencies are participating in the search, including HRCSO, the Hood River Crag Rats, Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol, Portland Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue, Lane County Sheriff's Office, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon Air National Guard.

Missing snowboarder on Mount Hood: Search continues Wednesday | kgw.com

 

[Unsolved]

I sure hope they find him. More info on the Mt Hood Meadows area:

Mt. Hood Meadows | Ski and Snowboard Resort and Learning Center | Meadows

The blog there has the same info as posted above:
Search in progress for missing snowboarder | Meadows

 

[GuyfromCanada]

"Conditions right now are good for searching, but the concern is a high risk of avalanche this afternoon as it warms up," said Hood River County Sheriff Matt English. "We're supposed to see quite a bit of warming. It was ideal this morning to get crews into the high-risk areas but the high-risk areas are high-probability areas."

Multiple search agencies are participating in the search, including HRCSO, the Hood River Crag Rats, Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol, Portland Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue, Lane County Sheriff's Office, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon Air National Guard.

Missing snowboarder on Mount Hood: Search continues Wednesday | kgw.com

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Video at link.

Crews search for missing snowboarder on Mount Hood | kgw.com

And another one.

 

[borndem]

Sounds like the rescue effort got on this very quickly -- drones were made for this kind of search effort, and the search seems very organized . Impressive, IMO. I wonder how large their search area would be for something like this.
Time is of the essence, especially since it's a cold environment -- the current temp for Mount Hood is 21 F. Hoping for good news.

Thanks for the recent threads, Guy.

 

[GraceG]

I grew up in SW Washington and have spent a lot of time on Mt. Hood hiking and climbing. This time of year the avalanche danger is high (they quit forecasting avalanches mid-April). Here's the current chart and Mt. Hood is in a "considerable risk" area. Home - Northwest Avalanche Center They have some great search teams in that area, but the teams may be limited by the danger as it warms up later in the day. Hopefully, drones can spot something if they have any in use.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. — Warm temperatures are a concern Thursday as the search continues near Mount Hood Meadows for 30-year-old Ryan Mather.

According to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, rescue crews will continue to search the technical black diamond and double black diamond rated areas in and around Heather Canyon and the Private Reserve.

Those areas are closed to the public Thursday due to the high avalanche risk from the terrain above.

Weather a concern as crews continue search for missing snowboarder on Mt. Hood

 

[dub]

It’s been a while since I’ve been there but I know Meadows really well, and I’m a little confused about the search areas vs the avalanche danger.

It sounds like they’re looking at the lower (and possibly middle) parts of Heather Canyon, plus the Private Reserve. The middle part of HC would definitely be an avalanche risk, but I wouldn’t think the lower part would be much of one, and I can’t imagine the Private Reserve being at risk at all.

Maybe they think he hiked up to the upper part of HC from shooting star? THAT is an avalanche risk, but that area is also super exposed with almost no trees and I’d think he would have been found by now if he was there.

Or maybe (likely!) there’s just something I’m missing.

 

[InvestigatingtheNW]

A picture of Ryan Mather

 

[dub]

Video at link.

Crews search for missing snowboarder on Mount Hood | kgw.com

And another one.

The video expanded upon and kind of clarified a couple details that either weren't in the articles or that I missed.

-They know Ryan's last lift contact was at Shooting Star because it registered his pass when he took the lift up. They didn't say specifically what time it was, but it was in the morning.

-They seemingly have no idea where he went after that--the Heather Canyon and Private Reserve searches are seemingly because they are accessible from Shooting Star and the most dangerous areas around there.

-So, the search area is much bigger than just those areas--it also includes the entire Shooting Star area AND presumably the entire HRM lift zone. The Shooting Star area is pretty self-contained and not that big or terribly difficult, but the HRM area is huge and has a lot of pretty hairy terrain (Private Reserve is in this area, but is only a small part of it).

If anyone is curious, the trail map is linked here:
Trail Map | Meadows

These are all labeled, but just for reference, Heather Canyon is in the top middle heading down to the right, Shooting Star is just below that, and HRM and the Private Reserve are just below the base of Shooting Star. (The HRM area is so big that the base of it doesn't even make it onto the map!)

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Found deceased.

HOOD RIVER COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) - The body of a snowboarder missing since Tuesday night on Mount Hood was recovered on Saturday morning, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office said late Friday afternoon, the Mt. Hood Meadows ski patrol found evidence that a body was buried in avalanche debris in Clark Creek in the Heather Canyon area. Much of this area is rated black or double black diamond. Due to the approaching darkness and technical recovery, an operation was scheduled for Saturday morning.

Body of missing snowboarder found on Mt. Hood

 

[annpats]

Oh no. RIP.