PORTLAND, Ore. — A skier and mountaineer from Oregon died Friday after he was buried in an avalanche on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in western Europe, his sister said.
Dave Rosenbarger was alive when rescuers dug him out, but died at a hospital, his sister Sarah Becker told KATU-TV.
Rosenbarger, 38, represented the Patagonia sporting goods company. He was a graduate of the University of Oregon and Gresham High School and lived with his wife in France.
Mont Blanc in the Alps contains some 200 summits, in addition to its primary peak, and touches France, Switzerland and Italy. Six French climbers died in a fall on the French side of the mountain in August after a night of snow and wind.
Patagonia, based in Ventura, California, released a statement in which global marketing director Josh Nielsen described Rosenbarger as a calculated risk taker who had a glowing personality and natural eye for product design.
“He was the epitome of a pure passion skier—someone who didn’t do it for the cameras or for the limelight—and was deeply committed to the sport for all of the right reasons,” Nielsen said.
The ski magazine Powder said Rosenbarger was the subject of a feature in its upcoming issue. Rosenbarger was asked in the Powder profile if the deaths of two close friends to mountains in Peru and the United States had made him slow down. He said the incidents made him more aware, but did not affect his skiing.
“I don’t think anything is worth dying over,” he told Powder. “I expect myself and everyone I go out with to come home safe every night.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
