Search for missing Mt. Hood skier becomes recovery effort

HOOD RIVER, Ore. (AP) – Authorities say the search for a 57-year-old man who went missing on Tuesday while skiing on Mt. Hood has become a recovery effort.

Sgt. Pete Hughes with the Hood River Sheriff’s Office told television station KEZI that after consulting with a doctor, authorities believe Steve Leavitt has not survived.

Leavitt, a Subaru dealership sales manager in The Dalles, was skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows in the middle of a snow storm that dropped more than five feet of snow over the week. Searchers suspect that Leavitt may have fallen into a deep tree well.

Tree wells form when snow falls on an alpine tree and branches keep the snow from building up at the trunk, creating a deep hole.