Professional Snowboarder Stratton Matteson Killed in Avalanche

On February 24, 2026, professional split-boarder (also known as backcountry snowboarding) Stratton Matteson was caught and killed in an avalanche near Pemberton, British Columbia.

The avalanche occurred in a remote area of the Anniversary Glacier, near Mt. Joffre and Mt. Matier.

Pemberton RCMP were notified of a missing person in the backcountry around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The reporting party witnessed the avalanche and initiated a search, but found no transceiver signal. The Sea to Sky RCMP, Pemberton Search and Rescue responded and deployed search teams, which located and recovered Matteson.

The avalanche was reported to Avalanche Canada as a D3.5 wind slab on a northeast face that ran 1500m from a 200cm crown. The accident marks Canada's fourth avalanche-related death this season.

Matteson, 28, was known throughout the splitboard and backcountry community as an old soul, a deeply passionate snowboarder, and a ray of positivity. He built a reputation riding his bike from trailhead to trailhead over the last five years, foregoing cars to get him to the mountains.

A staple of the Bend, Oregon, community where Matteson lived, his bike could often be seen at trailheads across the Central Cascades, the Sierras, and beyond.