Story highlights Kip Rand was initially unconscious and then revived after an avalanche flung him 600 feet down a mountainside

Rand died of internal injuries before a search and rescue team arrived five hours later

(CNN) A man who dedicated his life to teaching others how to survive severe winter weather and taught avalanche awareness has died in an avalanche.

Kip Rand, the 29-year-old director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center, died of internal injuries before rescuers were able to reach him. He died on Tuesday while backcountry skiing with a friend in the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon, the center said in a statement released Thursday.

Rand was on a ski tour of Sacajawea Peak, the Hurwal Divide and Chief Joseph Mountain with his friend when a large cornice break started an avalanche and swept Rand down a narrow chute, officials said.

The friend escaped and found Rand, who was unresponsive and partially buried under several feet of snow, Wallowa Avalanche Center board Member Michael Hatch said in a statement. The friend immediately initiated a GPS locator device, called for help and then performed CPR on his friend, Hatch said.

Rand was unresponsive for two minutes before the friend revived him. They walked out of the avalanche debris to a safe area and waited for rescue.

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