Authorities in Oregon on Wednesday identified the two victims killed after being buried earlier this week in an avalanche.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office identified the deceased couple in a statement Wednesday as Terance Olaf Skjersaa, 57, and Susan Renee Skjersaa, 52. Advertisement
The couple was buried on Monday when an avalanche occurred while they were backcountry skiing on a trail in Central Oregon’s Happy Valley between Bend Watershed and Broken Top.
The sheriff’s office said friends began searching for the couple Monday night after they failed to return as expected. The friends found the couple before midnight Monday buried in an avalanche.
Both were deceased and the avalanche was determined to have occurred hours earlier.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of the couple who lost their lives in the avalanche while enjoying the Central Oregon backcountry,” Sheriff Kent van der Kamp of Deschutes County said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office dispatched two search-and-rescue members to the scene where they were joined by additional members and a deputy on Tuesday to aid in the recovery of the victims. Advertisement
The couple had a long history in the country, Kamp said.
According to the Central Oregon Avalanche Center, the avalanche occurred at 6,700 feet on a south-facing slope.
A preliminary report from the center states the avalanche’s crown height was 17.7 inches and that it ran 320 vertical feet into a tight clump of trees.
Though the avalanche’s trigger is unknown, the center states that the skiers may have triggered it themselves.
“We will mourn this loss together,” the center said on Facebook, “Take care of each other.”
