- Rescue teams struggle with dangerous conditions.
- The sheriff says avalanche danger was widespread.
- Avalanches claim an average of 27 lives each winter in the United States.
At least eight skiers died in an avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains and a ninth is presumed dead, authorities said Wednesday, making the disaster one of the deadliest single avalanches in US history.
Rescuers on skis were able to reach six survivors amid an intense winter storm that had dumped several feet of new snow on the high Sierra in recent days. One skier is still unaccounted for.
The avalanche — the length of a football field, according to authorities — struck in the Castle Peak area of Truckee, Calif., about 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe, around 11:30 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday, engulfing a group of backcountry skiers who were on a three-day guided excursion.
One of the rescued skiers is still being treated at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
The survivors had sought refuge in a makeshift shelter, partly built from tarpaulin sheets, communicating with rescuers via radio beacon and text messages.
Two rescue teams, totaling about 50 members, were dispatched from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center and approached the avalanche zone from the south and north.
Extreme conditions for rescuers
The rescuers faced “extreme” conditions, Moon said, including blinding snow and gale force winds. One team was able to use a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the survivors and then ski to the crash site.
The eight dead skiers were found with their beacons active, and their bodies will be recovered weather permitting, authorities said. One was married to a member of the search and rescue team.
The group of skiers had completed a three-day excursion with Blackbird Mountain Guides at the time of the avalanche. The tour group included four guides and 11 clients who stayed at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts, located near Donner Summit, just northwest of Truckee, at about 7,500 feet (2,300 meters).
In a typical winter, the mountain receives more than 400 inches of snow, making it one of the snowiest places in the Western Hemisphere.
Moon noted that forecasts widely predicted the storm and the accompanying avalanche danger, and said her office is still talking with the guide company about its decision to take people out.
The Sierra Avalanche Center extended the avalanche warning it issued Tuesday, saying a “major” danger could continue throughout the day Wednesday.
Blackbird issued a statement Tuesday saying it was working with authorities to support the rescue effort.
Founded in 2020, the company operates in California, Washington state and British Columbia, as well as several popular ski resorts overseas, according to its website. The company offers guided ski tours, alpine climbing tours and avalanche training.
Avalanches have claimed an average of 27 lives each winter in the United States over the past decade, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which had counted six U.S. avalanche deaths so far this season before Tuesday’s disaster.
