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Authorities called off the active search Monday for
a 22-year-old snowboarder lost on Mount Bachelor since
Feb. 9. There is little hope that Kate Svitek, a Mount
Bachelor ticket attendant and Bend resident, is still
alive after spending 10 days on the snow-capped mountain.
"As of today, Deschutes County Search and Rescue
has broken down their command post and will not be formally
present here on this search," Deschutes Count Sheriff
Les Stiles said from a back room at Mount Bachelor's
West Village. Forecasters were calling for 40 to 60
mph winds and 1 to 3 inches of new snow Monday night,
making a continued search even more difficult, Stiles
said. Stiles had to tell Svitek's family the news on
Monday. "They are distraught," he said, noting
that he would feel the same and want searchers to continue
looking for his daughter if she were the one lost on
the mountain.
Svitek's family is also grateful for all the time volunteers
spent searching for the young woman, Stiles said. Between
50 and 60 people a day have been searching for Svitek,
a recent graduate of the University of Vermont. Volunteers,
from Washington, Idaho and counties across Oregon participated
in the search, Stiles said. In total, about 5,500 hours
were put into the search during the past 10 days. The
Deschutes National Forest also contributed radios and
snowshoes to aid in the search.
Mount Bachelor Mountain Manager Matt Janney said it
was the first time that searchers were not able to find
someone lost on Bachelor. Deschutes County Search and
Rescue also plans to hold future trainings in the area
in hopes of finding Svitek.
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Ski patrols will continue to look for her in small
groups, Janney said. "We want to bring closure
for the family, all the searchers and anyone that has
had contact with her," Janney said.
During the past 10 days, helicopters, dogs and searchers
have scoured the northwest section of the mountain where
Svitek was last seen. Svitek was snowboarding with friends
on Feb. 9 at about noon in the chutes off the Northwest
ski lift when she disappeared. She was officially reported
missing after the ski area closed at 5 p.m. the same
day.
The search area extends from the Outback Express chairlift
to Tot Mountain, an area for expert snowboarders on
the backside of the ski area.
While officials don't suspect foul play or a planned
disappearance by Svitek, Deschutes County sheriff's
detectives will interview Svitek's family and friends
in the next week to double check the facts in the case,
Stiles said.
The search was especially difficult for Deschutes County
Search and Rescue because it was the third time in nine
months that volunteers have been unable to recover a
lost person. Corwin Osborn of Bellevue, Wash., was lost
in the Sisters Wilderness in June, and in November,
Danny Curran of Springfield, Pa., was lost on Broken
Top Mountain. Neither has been found.
Stiles said spiritual and psychiatric help will be made
available to volunteers emotionally drained by the most
recent search. "You tell them thank you,"
Stiles said, "and hope they can get through it."
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