Eight of the nine people reported missing Wednesday when a guided backcountry skiing group was hit by a massive avalanche the size of a football field near Lake Tahoe have been confirmed dead, Nevada County authorities said, making the event one of the deadliest avalanches in the U.S. in decades. A ninth person is presumed dead.
The victims were three professional guides and six clients who were returning Tuesday after spending two nights at the remote Frog Lake ski lodge in the Green Mountains area, just north of Interstate 80 near Donner Peak. Six people from the 15-member team – five clients and one guide – survived and were rescued after a major operation on Tuesday afternoon and night.
A person familiar with Tuesday’s tragedy told The Chronicle that most of the guests who were guided through the difficult terrain during the winter storm were women and mothers of children on the ski team at nearby Sugar Bowl Resort.
The trip was part of a historic annual trip in which husbands and wives would take turns skiing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. These trips have nothing to do with the Sugar Bowl and are organized by close-knit parents.
The identities of the deceased skiers were not released Wednesday because their bodies remained in the trail area and next of kin had not been notified, officials said.
Sugar Bowl spokesperson Rachel Soeharto declined to comment Wednesday.
“We are unable to comment on this matter; any questions are directed to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department, who are handling the situation and can provide a verified update,” Suharto said.
Sheriff Shannan Moon said the Nevada County Dispatch Center received a 911 call at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday reporting an avalanche near Green Mountain, “a very remote rugged area” that is “not a groomed area or a ski resort” but a remote area of the Tahoe National Forest near the Pacific Crest Trail.
Moon said the group was on a three-day guided tour organized by Truckee Blackbird Mountain Guides. One client backed out at the last minute, she said. The group spent two nights at Frog Lake Ski Lodge and were returning to the trailhead on the third day when the avalanche struck, Moon said.
Moon said six survivors who were hiding under tarps amid heavy snow were found Tuesday night. Two people were injured and rescued by snowcats. They were taken to hospital but are expected to survive.
“I would say extreme weather conditions is an understatement,” Moon said, describing strong winds, heavy snow and whiteout visibility.
Moon said rescue teams arrived in the area shortly after 5:30 p.m., but due to avalanche danger, a snowcat – a specialized vehicle equipped with tracks – could only reach about two miles from the scene, leaving rescuers to ski the rest of the way.
Don O’Keefe, law enforcement chief for the California Office of Emergency Services, said his personnel were “communicating with a tour guide for more than four hours” via text message and relaying information to Nevada County as rescuers mobilized.
Moon said survivors began searching for the missing members and found three bodies before rescuers arrived. Capt. Rusty Green, the incident commander in charge of the initial response, said the ski team was “pretty close” when the slide occurred.
“We reported … that they were trying to get out as a group and someone saw the avalanche and yelled about the avalanche and it quickly caught up with them,” Green said.
One of the injured skiers was released from the hospital Tuesday night, and the other is expected to be released Wednesday.
Moon said her office had contacted the tour guide company and decided to continue the trip despite weather forecasts warning of high avalanche danger. Blackbird is working with officials to provide its travel manifest and other information, she said. An avalanche warning was issued Tuesday morning, and forecasts for a major snowstorm began to develop last week.
“The backcountry is beautiful. There aren’t a lot of people there, but a lot of people like to go there and relax,” Moon said. “I myself enjoy recreation in that area. But nature, it doesn’t seem to matter.”
The Sierra Avalanche Center confirmed a large avalanche on a north-facing slope near 8,200 feet above sea level and classified it as a D2.5 slide – powerful enough to cause serious injury or death. Tahoe National Forest Superintendent Chris Feutrier said the avalanche, which was about the length of a football field, was caused by the collapse of persistent weak layers under the weight of new snow.
“The persistent weak layer remains and another three feet of snow has been reloaded,” Feitrill said Wednesday. “The danger remains high.”
Moon said the search team moved the body to a marked area in the avalanche zone so it could be removed if conditions allowed.
Green said the steep, “vertical” terrain and storm conditions meant crews were only able to remove survivors who needed medical attention Tuesday night, and “the actual dead were still in the avalanche zone.”
Moon Jae-in said the operation has “shifted from rescue to recovery.”
“Due to the continued challenges of weather and avalanche conditions, our efforts continue as we continue to search for the remaining skiers,” Moon said, adding that weather and safety were the biggest limitations in finding the man’s body.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue deployed two snowcats and 28 team members to assist. He said the incident was personal to the group: One of the people who died was the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordics.
The search area has no roads and must be accessed by snowcat, snowmobile or skis, Green said. Moon noted that the avalanche was about a mile away from a fatal landslide in the same Green Mountain area in early January.
Nevada County Supervisor Hardy Bullock, who represents the area, said about 90 people were involved in the search Tuesday night. As the storm continues, he said, “it may be physical recovery rather than rescue.”
The avalanche was the worst in the United States since 1981, when 11 climbers died on Mount Rainier, according to the Colorado Avalanche Center, which has data going back to about 1950.
This article was originally published on Tahoe avalanche kills 8; victims include mom of Sugar Bowl junior skier.
