Dear Reader,
For more than 100 years, OPB has offered reliable news and connection. Through wildfires, elections and economic downturns, OPB has been there to inform and connect our communities. Today, journalism faces new obstacles.
But this work is only possible because of people like you — readers who turn to articles like this and continue to engage with independent journalism in our community. If OPB has been a part of your life, if it has helped you see your community or the world more clearly, please consider making a contribution today.
— The OPB Team
Please select an amount to give. Your contribution ensures that fact-based reporting, cultural connection, and stories that strengthen our community remain freely available to everyone.
A Seattle man died Monday following a medical emergency at Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort in Central Oregon.
According to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, emergency dispatchers received an SOS text message from an Apple device, saying a person was trapped and injured in steep terrain.
GPS coordinates included in the message led first responders to the west side of Mt. Bachelor, where they found 34-year-old Benjamin Shelkey.
He had been buried head-first in a tree well. A group of bystanders had also called 911, and they were working to save Shelkey before rescue teams arrived.
Shelkey was taken to a nearby hospital, but he died from his injuries.
His cause of death remains under investigation. Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Camp said the circumstances are consistent with snow immersion suffocation.
“On behalf of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Central Oregon community, I want to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Benjamin Shelkey,” Sheriff van der Kamp said in a statement. “This is a heartbreaking loss, and our thoughts are with those who knew and loved him.
“We also want to recognize the swift response and dedication of all those citizens and ski patrollers who assisted in this rescue effort.”
He also urged people to use caution when recreating in backcountry and resort areas, especially in deep snow conditions.
Last Thursday, 50-year-old Brian Thomas Roberts, of Bend, died in an avalanche while cat skiing at Diamond Lake Resort.
In February, Terry and Renee Skjersaa, of Bend, were killed in an avalanche while backcountry skiing in the Central Cascades.
