The couple who were killed in an avalanche while backcountry skiing near Broken Top mountain on Monday were identified as Terry and Renee Skjersaa, members of the Norwegian family who opened Bend’s first ski shop and helped shape Central Oregon into the recreational skiing mecca it is today.

Friends, family and members of skiing, real estate and education circles were shocked and saddened by the news this week as they grappled with the loss of two people who were known not only for their love of life, passion in their professions and earnestness in their relationships — but for their competency and mindfulness navigating snowy slopes in the backcountry.

“It’s a tremendous loss to the countless people that were involved with them in their lives,” Wade Willers, a longtime friend, said Wednesday.

“They were the most beautiful humans that I know,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

A search and rescue effort recovered their bodies from the slide near a snowmobile trail just east of Broken Top, in an area known as Happy Valley, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday. The victims were officially identified Wednesday morning as Terance Olaf Skjersaa, 57, and Susan Renee Skjersaa, 52.

The search effort began Monday evening when the couple did not return on time from a backcountry ski outing in the Deschutes National Forest. The pair left for the ski outing Monday morning on snowmobiles from their house on Skyliners Road west of Bend, headed for higher elevations in the Happy Valley area in the Deschutes National Forest, which friends said was a usual skiing spot for the Skjersaas.

“They park the sleds … make a couple laps and come back,” Willers said. “It’s something they do all the time.”

But when they didn’t return, friends and family called authorities — and neighbors in the Skyliners area, who hopped on their own snowmobiles and raced to where a cell phone signal showed Terry’s phone location. They found the couple killed amid the avalanche debris.

“I knew my neighbor would get on his snowmobile and immediately go look. Any of us would have dropped whatever we had going to help those guys out,” said Harold Cecil, Terry Skjersaa’s cousin.

Avalanche forecasts from the Central Oregon Avalanche Center for Monday called danger “considerable” — a three on a scale of five. Cold and dry snow from earlier this month created a weak layer below new snow that was wetter and heavier, said Gabriel Coler, the center’s lead forecaster. According to a preliminary report, the slide occurred at 6,700 feet, where a slab of snow 18 inches tall broke and ran 320 feet into a clump of trees.

The avalanche was classified as D2 — large enough to bury a person but not big enough to destroy a car.

“These are expert skiers,” said Tim Gibbons, a friend and Skjersaa family historian. “They were highly experienced, they were fit, they were knowledgeable.”

“It’s still a shock,” he said.

Skjersaa family propelled skiing in Central Oregon

Terry and Renee Skjersaa shared a deep passion for outdoor pursuits, especially skiing. For Terry, the ties go back more than 100 years.

He was among the third generation of Skjersaas to be born in Bend. Nels Skjersaa, a lumber mill worker, first arrived in Bend from Norway in 1917. Ten years later, he and three other Scandinavians created the Skyliners outdoor sports club focused on skiing and climbing.

It quickly took off. The club pioneered a winter sports facility near Sisters. A few years later they moved the snow playground 10 miles west of Bend in pursuit of longer runs and better snow. They had a rope tow, a 60-meter ski jump, and held alpine and cross-country skiing races — more than two decades before lifts would start spinning at Mt. Bachelor.

The family excelled in ski competitions, both in jumping and racing, according to Gibbons, who detailed the Skjersaa family history in a recent article for the International Skiing History Association.

“There’s this whole legacy of the Skjersaa family,” Gibbons said.

According to Gibbons, in 1958, Olaf Skjersaa — Terry’s grandfather — opened Skjerskaa’s Ski Haus on Greenwood Avenue in Bend, the first dedicated ski shop in Bend.

After running the business for decades on Century Drive out of a shop built to resemble a ski chalet, the family sold the business in the 1990s.

But Terry Skjersaa, who shares a name with his father, carried on the family’s skiing tradition. Even among Skjersaas, his passion for the sport shined through, as he competed in telemark competitions in Oregon, Washington in British Columbia.

Terry’s two daughters, Ellie and Jade Skjersaa, who are now college age, started on skis as soon as they could walk.

“It’s something that’s brought us all together,” Ellie said. “That was the time we spent together, just enjoying each other’s company. It was really special to us.”

Couple beloved by many, touched many circles

Terry studied the ski business in college in Colorado, and then worked at ski resorts and as a sales rep for brands like K2 and Kazama. He went on to create a successful real estate business in Bend under the Skjersaa name.

“No matter how busy he was, he always made you feel like you were the only person that he had time for,” said Mollie Hogan, a real estate agent who worked with Terry for 13 years. “He was a professional of the highest order. He was just the kind of person that made you want to be a better person.”

Hogan said Terry and Renee Skjersaa were the perfect match not only because of their love for each other but because of their love of outdoor adventure.

Along with skiing, Renee’s passion was cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing.

“They were people who sort of had one speed,” said Cecil, Terry cousin. “Whatever they did, they did it fast.”

Renee was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and moved west to get her master’s degree in education from Portland State University.

Friends said she was always smiling, always full of life, and always cracking jokes in a subtle, dry sense of humor.

“She was a spitfire, and so fun,” said Hogan.

She ended up in Bend, and for two decades taught math and computer science in Bend-La Pine Schools. Then, she transitioned into a role helping students get internships through the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.

“To know her was to meet someone you’ve felt like you’ve known for a long time,” said Tammy Baney, the organization’s executive director. “She had a genuine authenticity and a service heart, in particular for youth.”