Eight backcountry skiers were found dead after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe, authorities said. Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon confirmed the fatalities and said one skier remains missing.
Rescue operations are continuing as heavy snow persists across California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The missing person is presumed deceased, Sheriff Moon said, Bloomberg reported.
“We are still looking” for the missing skier, Moon said in a press conference on Wednesday. “But the weather is a factor.”
Six members of the group, five women and one man, survived and were rescued near Castle Peak after crews spent hours reaching them. Two were taken to the hospital; one was released Tuesday night, and the other is expected to be discharged Wednesday, according to local officials.
Survivors contacted authorities
Officials initially believed 16 people were involved but later revised the number to 15, the report added.
The group, which included guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides leading the trip, was caught in the avalanche around 11:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said.
The six survivors managed to contact authorities by text message while sheltering under a tarp, Russell Greene, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, told KCRA.
Weather conditions are expected to briefly improve Wednesday before another round of snowfall arrives, said Scott Kleebauer, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center.
“Today is definitely going to be the quietest day of the last several,” Kleebauer said. “We do see things pick up again tonight.”
Another wave expected
Another wave of Pacific moisture is forecast overnight, though it is not expected to match the intensity of the recent storm that blanketed the Sierra Nevada.
Greene said authorities were alerted by the guiding company and by activated emergency beacons. An avalanche warning remains in effect for the region.
“People go out and use the backcountry at all times. We advise against it, obviously,” Greene said.
In a statement, Blackbird Mountain Guides said the party had been staying at the Frog Lake huts in the Castle Peak area since Feb. 15 and was returning to the trailhead at the end of a three-day trip when the avalanche struck.
The company said it is coordinating with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and Nevada County Search and Rescue and is in direct contact with clients’ and guides’ emergency contacts.
“Avoid mountain travel, it’s treacherous. Avoid the backcountry,” Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said in the press conference. “Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing to recover these bodies for the families and bring them home.”
