Scholarship to honor fallen Bend mountain climber

Joel Tranby, a 21-year-old Bend resident, was climbing North Sister with his girlfriend on Monday, July 17, when he fell about 300 feet down the Collier Glacier. He was very badly injured but still able to talk. About two hours later, he fell an unknown distance and out of sight. He has not been found. His girlfriend, Fiona Curley, was transported by helicopter off of the mountain.

Joel’s family is thankful to Lane County Search and Rescue, Eugene Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue, Deschutes County Search and Rescue, the sheriff’s offices from both counties and all the others who helped look for Joel. Due to treacherous conditions and the time lapsed since his fall, rescuers ended their search late Tuesday.

It is devastating not to be able to bring Joel home. After the search was called off, some of Joel’s family and friends traveled to the mountain Wednesday to try to find him.

Joel was a person who loved the outdoors – hiking and recreating in Central Oregon. Family memories include hiking 12 miles in one day with his entire family of eight – his parents and five younger siblings – without a single complaint among any of them.

Joel was the first to be born, and he was followed by his sister. They were followed by their four younger siblings, whom their parents adopted from China. This is a beautiful family with such a big heart and full of so much love.

Not only was he a fantastic older brother to his siblings, he was a “buddy” for several summers at Camp Attitude, a special needs camp in Oregon. Another family memory: He traveled to Florida to Pirate Camp, a camp for children with amputations, with his two brothers who were born without arms. Once there, he helped them go deep-sea fishing for the first time.

It’s so tragic to see Joel’s young life come to an end like this.

"Joel was doing something he loved, with the person he loved, in the outdoors and we know that brought him joy,” said his mom, April. "Joel loved God and put his faith in Him. We are now trusting God for comfort in the days ahead. We continue to pray that his body will be found and ask for privacy at this time so we can heal as a family."

Joel is a 2020 graduate of Mountain View High School. He helped coach the school’s nordic ski team. He exhibited a remarkable work ethic and business acumen early on – getting his first job at Chik-Fil-A while in high school and working his way up to become a manager. He most recently started working part-time at Costco.

Joel would have done so much good in his life. His family wants his life to continue to do good by creating a scholarship in his memory at Oregon State University – Cascades, where he would have graduated this December with a degree in business administration.

As a friend of the family, I’ve asked them if it’d be OK to set up this page to help fundraise for the creation of a scholarship in Joel’s name. But funds also may go toward helping pay for a memorial service, family expenses and, if possible, future efforts to search for Joel’s remains and recover them off of the mountain.

Also, if anyone has alpine technical abilities – and in particular owns and knows how to operate a search drone – please reach out to me.

Thank you.