Snowboarder reaches Mount St. Helens summit, then plunges to his death, center says

UPDATE: A snowboarder who fell to his death after reaching to the top of a Washington mountain has been identified, deputies say. The man, who made it to the summit of Mount St. Helens, was identified as Roscoe Shorey, 42, of Washougal, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 1 Facebook post.

A snowboarder fell to his death after reaching the top of a Washington mountain, according to a nonprofit. Shortly after the snowboarder reached the summit of Mount St. Helens on Saturday, March 30, “he triggered a cornice,” snow that hangs over part of a mountain such as a ridge, the Northwest Avalanche Center said in a Facebook post.

The man then fell to his death, as snow collapsed beneath him, according to the center. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for information on April 1. Deputies told KIRO 7 News the snowboarder was alone, adding that “he had climbed the mountain dozens of times before.”

A cornice, “an overhanging mass of snow,” forms when strong winds carry snow and drop it “over a sharp terrain feature,” like a mountain ridge, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Over time, with multiple wind events, cornices build up with layers of snow, the center says. “Large cornices still overhang many steep alpine slopes,” the Northwest Avalanche Center said.

With “warm, sunny periods,” the center said the overhangings “can become weaker and easier to trigger.” In addition to this fatality, at least five people in the U.S. have died in cornice falls since the 2012-2013 season as of April 1, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. A climber also fell to his death on Mount St. Helens in 2010 after a cornice crumbled beneath him, CNN reported.