SOS message alerts cops to 34-year-old buried in snow on popular Oregon mountain
A 34-year-old man from Seattle died after he was buried in snow at a popular Oregon ski resort, deputies said.
Authorities received an SOS text at 3:04 p.m. March 17 from Mount Bachelor, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The message sent GPS coordinates and reported a “trapped and injured person in steep terrain,” deputies said.
The 911 dispatcher contacted the Mount Bachelor Ski Patrol, deputies and an emergency helicopter.
The ski patrol team reached the unresponsive man, identified as Benjamin Shelkey, and spent 15 to 20 minutes digging him out of the snow, deputies said.
Then they performed CPR on him, deputies said.
Shelkey was taken to Mount Bachelor Clinic, where he died, deputies said.
His official cause of death has not been released, but deputies said the “circumstances are consistent with snow immersion suffocation.”
Snow immersion suffocation, or tree well immersion, happens when a skier or snowboarder falls into unconsolidated snow, cannot move and suffocates, according to the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association.
Deputies did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for more information on March 18.
Mount Bachelor is about a 20-mile drive southwest from Bend.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 12:35 PM with the headline "SOS message alerts cops to 34-year-old buried in snow on popular Oregon mountain."
