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The victim of a fatal avalanche east of Pemberton, B.C., has been identified as a well-known professional backcountry snowboarder from Bend, Ore.
Stratton Matteson, 28, was snowboarding Tuesday at Anniversary Glacier, near the popular Joffre Lakes Park, when he was swept away by an avalanche and buried in 1.5 metres of snow.
“He was a bright light and spirited, enthusiastic young man who was kind to everyone,” said his father, George Wuerthner.
His father, mother, sister and girlfriend have all travelled from Oregon to Pemberton and will be staying in the Sea-to-Sky region for the coming days.
“He smiled all the time, people just loved him, he was so humble,” Wuerthner said.
Matteson’s passion for the mountains went beyond snowboarding, he cared deeply about the environmental impacts.
“Last year, he camped overnight on snow 230 nights,” said Wuerthner.
Wuerthner said his son was very concerned about climate change, so he would bicycle everywhere.
“He’d bicycle to trailheads everywhere to snowboard,” said Wuerthner. “He even had a landscaping business where he got a trailer for it and attached it to his bike, and he’d be driving around town with wheelbarrows and other stuff in the back of the trailer.”
His mother, Mollie Matteson, said her son was passionate about the mountains.
“He was a bright and shining comet, and we love him so much, and we still do and always will,” Matteson said.
Madeline Wettig, Matteson’s girlfriend, said he was devoted to protecting glaciers and spent years of his life studying mountains.
“He was inspired by the magnitude and the perspective one receives by being in the mountains and just the sheer beauty,” Wettig said.
During the summer, he’d cycle up to glaciers and observe how they were being impacted. In the winters, he’d study the snowfall and could recite how much each mountain range received.
“He’s an educator, I think, to his snowboard community,” said Wettig.
She said that Matteson was working on a film about a 2,000 mile-long bicycle to snowboard journey that is expected to be released soon.
His love for the outdoors was sparked at two weeks old when Matteson went on his first backpacking trip.
“Of course, he wasn’t walking yet,” said Wuerthner. “Every summer we’d travel around the western United States in a Volkswagen camper van, hiking and camping.”
Not long after, at the age of four, he was riding his bicycle through the snow in their backyard.
One of the best in the world
Close friend and fellow snowboarder Alex Gavin said Matteson was one of the best splitboarders in the world.
“This accident is devastating. We are truly shocked,” he said.
A fourth person has been killed in an avalanche in British Columbia this season. As the CBC’s Alanna Kelly reports, the recent death happened in an area frequently visited by people in the backcountry.
Matteson would ride his bike 20 kilometres to the trailhead outside Bend for five years straight, he added.
“He loved what he did and spread that love throughout our community,” Gavin said.
Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company that worked with Matteson, said it is devastated by his death.
“He was a longtime friend and contributor to our company, and an incredible snowboarder and environmentalist,” said spokesperson J.J. Huggins.
“His passion for moving through mountain landscapes by human power, and the joy he shared with friends along the way, will be deeply missed. This is an enormous loss for the snow community.”
Avalanche slide path was ‘massive’
Pemberton Search and Rescue responded by helicopter to an area near Joffre Lakes Park around 2 p.m. on Feb. 24 for a missing person believed to be caught in an avalanche.
The avalanche, spanning more than 1,500 metres, was triggered when a lone snowboarder travelled in a remote area called Anniversary Glacier near Mount Joffre and Mount Matier.
David MacKenzie is the president of Pemberton Search and Rescue, said the large avalanche was triggered around 10 a.m.
A person who was above the slide near Keith Hut tried to rescue him.
“The subject was buried about 1.5 metres deep,” MacKenzie said. “The sheer size of the slide path was so massive.”
Search members located Matteson by using a transceiver to find the beacon he was wearing.
“Some of our members who are quite experienced described it as one of the larger avalanche paths that they’ve actually been involved with,” MacKenzie said.
The area where the avalanche occurred is frequented by outdoor enthusiasts. At the time, Avalanche Canada had issued a considerable danger for avalanches in the area.
The avalanche took place within the Nlháxten Cerise Creek Conservancy, in the traditional territories of the Líl̓wat, N’Quatqua, Sekw’el’was and T’it’q’et First Nations.
Líl̓wat Nation held a ceremony that the family was able to attend.
Tara Smith, acting CAO of Líl̓wat Nation, said their lands and mountains are not simply places of natural beauty, but extensions of their ancestry, spirit and identity.
“When a life is lost upon this land, we hold that loss with great care and respect, as it is our responsibility as the stewards and keepers of this place.”
