8 skiers found dead, 1 still missing in Northern California’s deadliest in decades
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Eight backcountry skiers have been found dead and one is missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California, officials said Wednesday, making it the worst avalanche in the US in more than four decades.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said during a news conference that authorities have told the families that the operation has moved from rescue to recovery. The worst snow in the US since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier, Wash.
Six others from the same group of swimmers were rescued on Tuesday, one of whom remained in hospital on Wednesday. They were on a guided, three-day trip to the Sierra Nevada in Northern California as a major winter storm hit the West Coast.
“Someone saw an avalanche, called an avalanche, and it quickly caught up with them,” said Captain Russell. [Rusty] Greene, of the sheriff’s office.
The bodies of the eight were very close together, Greene said. Three of the dead were tour guides. Crews were not able to get the victims out of the mountain because of the extreme conditions, the sheriff said.
Workers have faced treacherous conditions since the massacre occurred on Tuesday morning. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reported that an avalanche had buried 15 skiers.
Two of those who were rescued after a few hours of searching were taken to the hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, spokeswoman for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Heavy snow and the threat of more avalanches have delayed rescue efforts in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe.
Avalanche risk is still high
The group was on a three-day trip to the Sierra Nevada in Northern California as a powerful winter storm hit the West Coast.
The area near Donner Summit is one of the snowiest areas in the Western Hemisphere and until a few years ago was closed to the public. It sees an average of about 10 feet of snow a year, according to the Truckee Donner Land Trust, which owns the group of cabins where the group stayed near Frog Lake.
The Sierra Avalanche Center warned Wednesday that avalanche danger remains high and advised against travel in the area. Several meters of snowfall and strong winds in recent days have left the ice pack unstable and unpredictable, and more snow was predicted to fall, the agency said.
Nevada State Sheriff Captain Russell Greene said authorities were notified of the avalanche by Blackbird Mountain Guides, who were leading the trip, and emergency skiers. The sheriff’s office said Tuesday night that 15 backcountry skiers were on the trip, not 16 as initially believed.
Safety is especially important this holiday season as winter outdoor activities peak in the Rocky Mountains. The latest snowfall in the backcountry has avalanche experts urging mountain-goers to plan ahead.
The skiers were on the last day of a ski trip and had spent two nights in the huts, said Steve Reynaud, an avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center. He said that the area needs to be traveled in an area with rugged mountains. All food and supplies must be taken to the huts.
Access to the huts in winter takes several hours and requires backcountry skills, avalanche training and safety equipment, the land trust said on its website.
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement that the group, including four guides, was returning to the road when the avalanche came down.
“Our thoughts are with the missing people, their families and first responders,” Blackbird said in a statement Wednesday. The company said it is assisting authorities in the search.
Many Tahoe ski resorts were partially or completely closed due to the weather. Resorts, which use controlled blasts and barriers to manage avalanche threats, were not expected to be as vulnerable as the backcountry, the center said.
The area near Donner Summit was closed for nearly a century before the land trust and its partners in 2020 discovered Frog Lake, which is formed by 1,000-foot-high (300-meter-high) cliffs. Donner Summit is named after the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who turned to cannibals after being trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobile and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the US, according to the National Avalanche Center.
