Body of Oregon Climber Who Fell Down Ravine Located

Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue received the report of an injured climber near the summit of the North Sister on the afternoon of July 17, 2023 at approximately 12:18pm. The caller reported that her boyfriend had fallen approximately 300-500ft down the slope and was severely injured. The caller was unable to see where the victim had fallen or reach him due to the extremely steep and rocky terrain.

A Lane County Sheriff’s Office SAR Coordinator and a Mountain Rescue volunteer arrived in the area via LifeFlight Network helicopter and immediately began searching. The victim had believed to have fallen into a very steep ravine that is made up of extremely unstable large boulders. Unfortunately he stopped responding verbally before searchers arrived. The search team as well as an Oregon National Guard Blackhawk crew were unable to locate him at the time. This area is extremely dangerous and inaccessible to searchers by foot. Additional teams from Lane County SAR, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Mountain Rescue, and an AirLink Helicopter also assisted in the search.

When the search was resumed, the Civil Air Patrol utilized a high-resolution camera, and a ground team comprised of volunteers with Corvallis Mountain Rescue and Eugene Mountain Rescue. They utilized a small Unmanned Aircraft System (drone) to further search the area where the victim was believed to have fallen.

On Thursday, utilizing intel gathered from drone footage, Lane County Sheriff Search and Rescue personnel located the body of the missing climber on the North Sister.

He has been identified as 21-year-old Joel Tranby of Bend. Search and Rescue personnel were able to observe his body from helicopter; however, extremely loose and steep rocky terrain rendered reaching him on foot impossible.

Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue personnel are consulting expert climbers from a number of various sources to determine if a recovery mission can be safely conducted.