Eight backcountry skiers who went missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe have been found dead, as authorities continue to search for one skier who remains missing.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon announced the deaths at a news conference on Wednesday, with officials saying it was the deadliest avalanche in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.
Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, on Tuesday after a 911 call reported an avalanche that buried 15 skiers, including ski rescue experts from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center.
Six people were successfully rescued Tuesday evening, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office announced, with two of the skiers transported to the hospital for treatment.
“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety, where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire,” the sheriff’s office announced in a post on Facebook Tuesday night.
The sheriff’s office noted that initial reports indicated there were 16 people skiing. However, one member of the group didn’t go on the trip, meaning there were only 15 missing in total.
Castle Peak, a 9,110ft mountain north of Donner Summit, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the tragic Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
The group of skiers were on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trek, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. He said the skiers spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating “rugged mountainous terrain” for up to 4 miles while carrying all their food and supplies.
Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that led the expedition, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying.
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement on its website that it was coordinating with authorities on the rescue operation.
California has been walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.
“It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,” said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee.
The center issued an avalanche warning for the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.
The town of Soda Springs, near where the avalanche took place, recorded at least 30in of snow during a 24-hour period, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.
The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers, coupled with gale-force winds.
The storm wreaked havoc on roads from the Sierra Nevada to Sonoma County. Traffic was temporarily halted in both directions on I-80 over and around Donner Summit due to spinouts and crashes, authorities reported.
Several Tahoe ski resorts were closed, in whole or in part, due to the weather. Resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or below avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.
In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.
Training in avalanche assessment and rescue, as well as in safety equipment, is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, which involves venturing deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort. Backcountry skis are wider and heavier, with features designed to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis, which are narrower and designed for flat, groomed trails.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
