DCSO ID’s Bend snowboarder killed in Paulina Peak avalanche, offer details of recovery efforts
A local Bend man was killed in an avalanche at Paulina Peak. Learn more here.
La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday identified a 33-year-old Bend snowboarder who was killed in an avalanche Wednesday afternoon while out with two friends who were skiing at Paulina Peak.
Despite hours of CPR life-saving efforts — at first detecting a faint pulse — a rescue effort for Erik Maxim Hefflefinger instead became a lengthy, cautious recovery mission by first responders and Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers.
On Wednesday at 12:48 p.m., the SAR unit was dispatched to a report of an avalanche at Paulina Peak, in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument east of La Pine, Sergeant Jason Wall said.
The reporting party was the International Emergency Coordination Response Center, which advised Deschutes County 911 dispatchers they had received an SOS alarm from a device and provided GPS coordinates for its location.
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