Several of the victims in California’s deadliest in modern history were mothers with connections to Northern California, from the Bay Area to the mountains around Tahoe.
Most of the women caught in an avalanche Tuesday north of Lake Tahoe were among a group of close friends who liked to spend time in the mountains, according to local and national media reports.
At least eight snowboarders have been confirmed dead, and one is unaccounted for but presumed dead, according to authorities. Six people were rescued when a group encountered an avalanche in the Castle Peak area on their way back from backcountry skiing.
Officials have yet to release the victims, and the extremely bad weather in the area has continued to hamper efforts to search for the missing body, or even retrieve those who have already died.
Still, as information is slowly revealed about who died in this devastating mountain accident, grief has shaken communities across Northern California and beyond.
What we know about avalanche victims
The group of 15 – four paid guides and 11 tour participants – were at the end of a three-day skiing trip to the Frog Lake huts when it snowed.
Among the victims were two sisters, Caroline Sekar, 45, of San Francisco and Liz Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho, according to the New York Times. Their families told the newspaper that the two are mothers and part of a tight-knit group of friends who often meet on ski trips.
One of the victims was a mother of two elementary school children in Marin County, according to the Marin Independent Journal. The superintendent of the Kentfield School District, about 15 miles north of San Francisco, sent an email to the families describing the victim as “a valuable part of our community,” the outlet reported.
The mayor of Mill Valley, a Marin County town not far from Kentfield, told the New York Times that some of the skiers on the trip, including at least one who died, were mothers from his town.
It was not immediately clear if any of the women had ties to Sugar Bowl Academy, a private ski school and club in the Tahoe area. The school said that members of its community died in the incident.
In a statement, the Norden-based school did not say exactly who died in its community, but ABC7 Los Angeles reported that several parents of students at the school died on the trip.
“We are an incredibly close-knit community. This tragedy has affected everyone,” said Stephen McMahon, the academy’s executive director, in a statement. “The best thing we can do is surround our athletes and families with care and support while providing the necessary space and time for grief and healing.”
One of the skiers who died was married to a member of the Tahoe Nordic Rescue Team, a Tahoe City volunteer group that joined the search.
Three of the four guides, all from Truckee-based company Blackbird Mountain Guides, were also among the eight confirmed dead.
The three guides are all trained or certified in skiing by the American Mountain Guides Assn. and were instructors at the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, according to a statement from Zeb Blais, founder of Blackbird Mountain Guides.
In addition to that training, their directors in the field “communicate with senior directors at our base, to discuss situations and routes based on the circumstances,” Blais said in a statement. “We are still learning a lot about what happened, we are not far from reaching the conclusion but the investigation is still ongoing.
“We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating,” Blais wrote. “For now, please keep those affected in your hearts. … This was a huge tragedy, and the most painful experience our team has ever faced.”
What we know about travel
The backcountry skiing trip to the Frog Lake lodges is described by Blackbird Mountain Guides as access to “some of the best backcountry skiing in North Lake Tahoe.” A trip can cost a skier around $1,500 depending on the time of the trip. The cabins are owned by the Truckee Donner Land Trust, which warns that the hike from the trailhead to the cabins takes several hours and passes through dangerous snow terrain.
On Sunday, as forecasters warned that the biggest winter storm of the season would be headed for California’s High Sierra, a group of nine women and six men set out on a hike to the slopes above Donner Pass.
The storm arrived as predicted and by Tuesday morning had dumped several feet of fresh, unstable snow. It was then that the group attempted their perilous journey back to civilization, in a blinding storm below steep, avalanche-prone slopes.
But when they were a few kilometers from safety, someone in the group saw a wall of snow – estimated to be the size of a football field – barreling towards them. Someone yelled, “Avalanche!” according to Rusty Greene, operations captain for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials received the distress call around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, beginning a challenging rescue operation in treacherous, remote, and intense terrain, and finally reached the six survivors around 5:30 p.m.
What we know about those found alive
The six who were found alive – four men and two women – range in age from 30 to 55 years old, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
One of the four guides on the trip survived.
Times staff writer Jack Dolan contributed to this report.
