SKAMANIA COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A snowboarder was killed in an avalanche on Mount Saint Helens over the weekend.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office said the man, identified as 42-year-old Roscoe Shorey of Washougal, had summited the peak alone when he triggered a snow cornice fracture and fell to his death.
A climbing group found his equipment on Saturday morning before finding his body within the crater of the volcano about 1,200 feet below the summit. It was recovered from the crater Monday morning.
The Sheriff’s Office said Shorey was an experienced mountain climber and had summited Mount St. Helens 28 times prior to the accident.
There hadn’t been a fatal avalanche on the mountain since 2010. The Sheriff’s Office added that the warmer weather can bring danger to local mountains, because snow cornices are hard to detect and become weaker during warm, sunny periods.
