Crews search for 9 skiers missing after California avalanche near Lake Tahoe
TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — Search crews slogged through mountainous wilderness and deep snow looking for nine backcountry skiers who remain missing Wednesday following an avalanche near Lake Tahoe. Six others have already been rescued.
The group was on a three-day backcountry trek in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains on Tuesday morning when they were trapped by the avalanche as a monster winter storm pummeled the West Coast.
Two of those rescued were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Extreme conditions slowed the rescue effort, including more heavy snow and the continuing threat of more avalanches in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe. It took crews several hours to reach the one group of skiers and take them to safety, where they were evaluated by the Truckee Fire Department.
The Sierra Avalanche Center warned that a strip of the Sierra Nevada remains at high risk of avalanche Wednesday and advised against travel in the area. While the storm was beginning to wane, multiple feet of snow and gale force winds over the past days left the snowpack unstable and unpredictable, the center said.
The sheriff’s office said Tuesday night that 15 backcountry skiers had been on the trip, not 16 as initially believed.
Search and rescue crews were dispatched after a 911 call reporting an avalanche and people buried. The sheriff’s office planned to update on the rescue efforts later Wednesday.
A three-day ski trip
The skiers were on the last day of a backcountry skiing trip and had spent two nights in huts, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center, which had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the trip required navigating “rugged mountainous terrain” for up to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) and that the skiers carried 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. It said the group, including four guides, were returning to the trailhead when the avalanche occurred.
Dangerous backcountry conditions
California is being 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 area in 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 30 inches (76 centimeters) 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 halted temporarily Tuesday in both directions on I-80 over and around Donner Summit due to spinouts and crashes, the authorities reported.
Several Tahoe ski resorts were fully or partially closed due to the weather. Resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or below avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.
Area has dark history
Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) mountain north of Donner Summit, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler 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 and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, involves venturing deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort.
