Two Tragically Killed in Avalanche in Central Oregon

Two skiers were killed in an avalanche in Central Oregon on February 17, 2025.

Central Oregon Avalanche Center (COAC) posted to Instagram around 11:30 a.m. PST on February 18, 2025 to say that they were currently assisting the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue in responding to an avalanche that occurred overnight on the 17th near Broken Top. 

Later that evening, COAvy updated their social media to report that the avalanche in question had resulted in two skier fatalities.

According to Deschutes County Sheriff Kent Van der Kamp, friends of the two skiers involved in the accident were able to "use a phone app located to the last ping of their friend's phone. They started searching the avalanche debris field, located what they believed was basically a limb of one of their friends coming out of the snow," he said. "They were concerned about a secondary avalanche, so they withdrew from the area." They then called 911 to assist with the rescue. 

The accident occurred in the Happy Valley area of the Central Cascades, near Bend, Oregon. According to a preliminary report from COAvy, two skiers were buried in a D2 storm slab avalanche at 6,700ft on a southeast facing slope. The slide had an average crown height of 45cm and ran 320 vertical feet into a clump of tight trees. While the exact trigger is unknown, its possible that the slide was triggered by the skiers.