A search-and-rescue mission on Mt. Hood in Oregon had an unhappy ending as they recovered the body of missing snowboarder Collin Backowski.
Backowski disappeared yesterday afternoon when an ice tunnel that he went ahead alone to explore collapsed around him. His friends called for help. They tried to dig him out, but the layer of snow and ice was simply too deep for them to do so.
Backowski’s companions used photos that they had taken before the avalanche to help rescuers find their missing friend. The photos helped the searchers quickly find the collapse.
Rescuers found his body this morning at approximately 8:45 Pacific time. They used chain saws and other hand tools to dig through nearly ten feet of snow and ice.
"All of the mountain is pretty dangerous," Hood River Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lt. Tiffany Peterson told the LA Times .
“It never worried me what he was doing late at night. It worried me to death what he was doing when he died,” Collin’s father, John Backowski, told NBC News . “He was doing what he loved.”
Image: Wikimedia Commons