Snowboarder killed at Stevens Pass identified as Seattle man

The King County Sheriff's Office has identified a snowboarder killed Sunday afternoon at Stevens Pass as a 20-year-old Seattle man.

In a statement, a spokesman for the office said the man was riding with three friends at 4:30 p.m. on U.S. Forest Service land when he was hit from behind by an avalanche that forced him into a tree. He died at the scene.

The four young men were snowboarding out of bounds near the Stevens Pass ski area in an area known as Cowboy Mountain, the spokesman said.

"The victim and three friends were snowboarding when the man went down the hill in a slightly different direction than the others and was hit from behind by an avalanche and carried into a tree," King County Sgt. John Urquhart said in a statement. "The three other men were not injured and managed to dig the victim out. He suffered injuries from hitting the tree and was not breathing."

CPR was attempted as another member of the party called 911.

Urquhart said the three friends are students in their early 20s at the University of Washington.

The victim's name was not released. The King County Medical Examiner's Office will release his name after an autopsy has been conducted and his family has been notified.

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