The search continued this morning for a
Mount Bachelor employee who has been missing since she
went snowboarding on Saturday.
Members of search and rescue teams from Portland, Corvallis,
Lane County and Camp Sherman joined Deschutes County Search
and Rescue crews, ski patrol members and others combing
through the deep snow in the Northwest Territory looking
for Kate Svitek, 23, said Mount Bachelor spokeswoman Molly
Moloney.
A second Oregon Army National Guard helicopter - this
one equipped with night vision systems - scanned the area
Monday but found no sign of the snowboarder.
"We didn't have any luck last night," Moloney
said today. "We had (two) helicopters from Salem
using flares and we didn't turn up anything."
Through Moloney, Svitek's parents issued a statement saying
how much they appreciate the efforts of those searching.
"We appreciate all the love, support and prayers
we have received from friends, our community back home
and well wishers from all over."
Moloney said the search moved to a new phase, one where
the area is being combed inch by inch to ensure Svitek,
a Mount Bachelor ticket attendant and Bend resident, has
not fallen into a tree well or a hole.
"At first, the search starts out broad," Moloney
said. "Then we go back and search every nook and
cranny."
The search for Svitek consumed not only officials. Skiers
and snowboarders in the glades of the Northwest Territory
also looked for her on Monday. She became separated from
her friends around noon Saturday while snowboarding in
the chutes off the Northwest ski lift. She was officially
reported missing after the ski area closed at 5 p.m.
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On Monday, teams of search and rescue volunteers and
employees from the mountain used a technique in which
the searchers form a line from the top of the search
area to the bottom.
They then slowly traverse around the mountain staying
in constant visual and verbal contact with the person
above and below them.
They slogged through thigh deep snow on skis and snowshoes.
Skiers and snowboarders who knew about Kate stopped
to ask lift operators what they had heard and how they
could volunteer.
Back in the glades, people went more slowly than usual,
scanning the areas around them closely and pointing
out trees with flagging tape attached to them.
The searchers are using the tape to mark areas they
have already searched.
Standing on the getback trail, two volunteers wearing
snowshoes and carrying large backpacks, tied a piece
of pink flagging to the branch of a tree just above
a set of tracks leading downhill off the getback trail.
Then they stepped off the trail into the deep snow,
using ski poles to steady themselves as they headed
off following the tracks.
Overhead, a search helicopter from the National Guard
flew low over the trees making pass after pass, slowly
working its way up the mountain.
In the woods, the sound of searchers calling Kate's
name floated eerily through the trees of the normally
peaceful glades.
Stopping for a break, Jerry Newman of Bend said he and
his companions had heard about the missing boarder on
TV.
"We normally ride on Tuesdays," he said.
"But we thought we'd come out today instead."
"Tomorrow it might be too late."
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