▶ Current deaths in Central Oregon draw consideration to avalanche prediction technologies

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Workplace has identified 33-year-old Eric Hefflefinger of Bend as the man who died in Wednesday’s avalanche on Paulina Peak. This was the second avalanche death this year immediately after a Bend man died in Black Crater a handful of weeks ago.

Avalanche forecasting gear on the mountain is incomplete, according to Central Oregon Avalanche Center forecaster Gabriel Kohler.

“We have a wind sensor and a temperature sensor,” Kohler mentioned.

They do not present adequate data for avalanche forecasting, which is necessary to aid backcountry athletes comprehend snow circumstances.

“We’re quite significantly oblivious to what is going on there,” Kohler mentioned. “It is normally a small additional harmful than the Cascades.”

The Cascade Mountain Variety has avalanche forecasting capabilities.

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“Our forecast region is from possibly south of Mount Bachelor all the way down to 3 Fingered Jack, and we’re writing a every day avalanche forecast for that zone,” Kohler mentioned.

Kohler told us he believes most backcountry skiers use the forecast. So the query is: why is there no forecast for Paulina Peak?

“When a forecaster sits down at evening and goes to create an avalanche forecast, he requires to know: how significantly snow fell in all these various areas, how significantly the wind was blowing, what are the temperatures seeking like?” Kohler mentioned.

The missing piece in the Paulina is the snow depth sensor. Devoid of this, they do not have a total climate station.

“We could not create an avalanche forecast without having a climate station,” Kohler explains.

A snow depth sensor is anticipated to be installed on Paulina Peak this summer season.