© FacebookCollin Backowski, 25, was standing just yards ahead of his group when the natural ice cave abruptly crashed down, Saturday. Authorities say he was buried in ice and snow the size of a school bus.
Rescuers have recovered the body of a 25-year-old snowboarder who was buried alive in an ice cave collapse in Mount Hood, Oregon.
Friends of Collin Backowski of Pines, Colorado say he was standing only 30 feet to 40 feet ahead of them when the natural ice cave abruptly crashed down on Saturday.
Authorities say the lone snowboarder was instantly covered with a mass of ice and snow the size of a school bus. A full-scale search began on Saturday, and rescuers returned on Sunday with chainsaws and hand tools. They discovered Backowski's body under about 10 feet of snow.
© Hood River County Sheriff's Office An image of an ice tunnel in Mt. Hood, Oregon, shows the scene just minutes before it collapsed and trapped 25-year-old Collin Backowski.
A photo taken just before the collapse shows one of the six snowboarders in Backowski's group standing directly underneath the massive lean-to-like cave. Only moments later would it collapse, according to his friends. Backowski is said to not be the man seen in the photo.
© kptv.comA block of ice and snow described as being the size of a school bus covered the 25-year-old from Pines, Colorado.
The search on Mt. Hood was suspended at 11 p.m. Saturday before resuming at 4 a.m. Sunday.
Authorities say they will most likely have to use chain saws to cut through the thick ice.
A fellow snowboarder and friend of Backowski said he had been at the same location just days before.
"I wasn't up there today, I was going to go today but I didn't," Grant Giller told KPTV. "Those are like my roommates, my coworkers, my friends."
The group of six snowboarders are said to have been scouting locations for a snowboarding video, bringing them to the ice tunnel.
Backowski's Facebook profile lists him as recently coaching snowboarding at High Cascade Snowboard Camp in Portland.
It's unfortunate that this young man lost his life up on the mountain recently, but he took that foolish chance the moment he walked into that ice cave in the middle of the day in mid-July.
I have lived in Portland, Oregon most of my life, and climbed Mt Hood five times with the Mazamas more than 40 years ago now, leading it twice. It's usually climbed in April through June, before the snow and ice melt and it becomes too dangerous. Playing around in ice caves in July is foolhardy.