Mount Hood Search For Missing Snowboarder Will Continue On Thursday

MOUNT HOOD, OR — Ryan Mather was last seen Tuesday morning in the area of the Shooting Star Express chairlift on Mount Hood. The 30-year-old snowboarder from Aloha is now the subject of a search and rescue mission.

On Wednesday, more than 40 search personnel from half a dozen agencies divided into 14 teams to conduct the search.

Teams from Clackamas, Deschutes, and Lane County Sheriffs’ Office’s, Hood River Crag Rats, Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, Portland Mountain Rescue, Eugene Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol and avalanche dog, Mt. Hood Meadows Public Safety, Oregon Army National Guard, and Oregon Emergency Management, participated.

The Hood River County Sheriff's Office said that the search started Tuesday night after it got a call around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday that Mather had not returned home from Mt. Hood Meadows, where he had gone early Tuesday.

Deputies found Mather's car at Meadows, prompting an immediate search for him, the sheriff's office said.

Rescuers from the sheriff's office, the Hood River Crag Rats and the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol searched through the night for Mather but had no luck.

Heather Canton and the Private Reserve were closed Wednesday to make sure there's no interference with search efforts, Mt. Hood Meadows said.

The Hood River Sheriff's Office said that Thursday's search will continue to focus on the area accessible to the Shooting Star chair lift.

Efforts will include skiers in the black and double black diamond ares in and around Heather Canyon and the Private Reserve.