Authorities reveal details in Mt. Washington climber’s death

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday recovery efforts for the body of fallen climber Brian Robak are being arranged by the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

Sheriff’s Lt. Bryan Husband also revealed the 28-year-old Hillsboro man fell about 500 feet to his death while descending the nearly 8,000-foot peak last Thursday.

“From the photos that he sent to his family, at some point he made it to the top of the summit,”Husband said.

Husband said Robak was “down-climbing” on Mt. Washington when he lost his grip or footing, which led to his fall.

Rob Wilkins, a photojournalist, for NewsChannel 21, said he met Robak during video class, while attending Big Lake Youth Camp.

“From what I remember, he was very helpful, creative and a very kind person in general,” Wilkins said. “And Big Lake will be really missing somebody important.”

During his climb, Robak met a Salem based climbing group, one of whom later talked of the loose rock that poses a challenge to climbers of the Central Oregon peak — especially on the way down.

Deschutes and Linn county sheriff’s search and rescue crews had returned early Saturday to continue the search for Robak, a contract worker at Big Lake Youth Camp who had gone on a solo day climb of the nearby peak Thursday afternoon but failed to return.

On Saturday afternoon, an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter crew located Robak’s body high up on the 7,795-foot peak.

“It appears Robak fell a significant distance from near the top of Mt. Washington,” said Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Garibay.

“Our thoughts are with Brian’s family and friends and we are saddened by this tragic outcome.” Garibay added. “The responding agencies would like to thank the Big Lake Youth Camp for their assistance in this search.”

Earlier Saturday, combined resources from the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Corvallis Mountain Rescue and Oregon Army National Guard continued searching the area.

Robak left his vehicle at Big Lake Youth Camp and began a solo hike of Mt. Washington around noon Thursday. He sent photos from the summit of the nearly 8,000-foot peak around 4:30 p.m. but did not return that night, Garibay said.

Staff members from the camp hiked a part of the trail but could not find him. They reported him missing around 3:30 a.m. Friday. Deputies said he had been wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and had climbed to the peak’s summit previously.

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and search and rescue volunteers searched higher elevations of the mountain, Big Lake and nearby trails on foot and in helicopters. They suspended the search late Friday and resumed looking Saturday.

The Salem Statesman Journal reports a group of Salem climbers met Robak on the mountain and said he was climbing without ropes and planned to “downclimb” from the summit.

There are two technical sections of climbing on Mt. Washington that most people use ropes to climb up and rappel down, the paper reported. Experts occasionally climb the entire mountain without ropes.

“I could tell by the way he was moving that he was a pretty solid and confident climber,” said Mike Pennington, a group leader for the Salem-based outdoors club The Chemeketans. He said he briefly chatted with Robak, and “he mentioned that he did the (same type of climb) about six years ago. He seemed like a really nice kid.”

Pennington told the paper he’d probably be comfortable climbing the peak without ropes, but the trip down would feel more hazardous, due in part to the mountain’s notoriously low-quality rock.

“You really have to grab everything and make sure it’s truly stable,” Pennington said.

The Big Lake Youth Camp is operated by the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

In an article posted Sunday in the Adventist Review, Robak is described as an “aspiring actor who won Pathfinders’ hearts on stage at the 2014 International camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.”

It said Robak was wrapping up a two-week contract job assisting the camp with drama programs. Robak had worked at the youth camp for the past eight summers.

“Brian had a love for Christ that was extra special,” said camporee director Ron Whitehead. “Brian always gave his best. He never gave God less than 101 percent. Brian was forever faithful.”

The youth camp described Robak as “a much-loved member of the Big Lake Youth Camp family” on its Facebook page, and thanked well-wishers for their “expressions of care and concern for our staff.”

Robak, who made several promotional videos for the camp, graduated from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas with a film degree in 2010 and appeared as an extra in several movies, including “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” and the upcoming “Jason Bourne.”

The Eugene Register-Guard reports Robak was a 2006 graduate of South Eugene and International high schools.. In 2003, he was part of a four-man team that won’ a men’s novice race in crew at a competition in British Columbia.