Eight people were killed Tuesday in an avalanche during a backcountry skiing expedition on the California side of Lake Tahoe, authorities said in an update Wednesday.
Officials said six other members of the group survived and one person, presumed dead, remains missing as search teams searched in near-whiteout conditions.
“We have spoken with the families of those whose cases remain unresolved and have advised them that our mission has shifted from rescue to recovery,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon told reporters. “It’s hard to have a conversation with someone you love.”
Officials said the avalanche was about the length of a football field. Five customers and one guide survived the landslide, Moon said. The survivors range in age from 30 to 55, she said.
The bodies of the deceased remain at the scene and there remains a significant avalanche risk.
“Even as the mission progresses toward recovery, the risks remain just as high. We want to make sure our first responders are safe,” Moon said.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Wu said deputies are assisting with the search, but it could be some time before all nine bodies are recovered.
“We are all committed to seeing this issue through to its end,” Wu said. “For now, we just need to wait for the weather to improve and get the last souls out of the mountain.”
Blackbird Mountain Guides said the avalanche occurred around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, shortly after a group of skiers left a remote cabin on Frog Lake. Four guides were leading the trip. The skiers had been at the lake northwest of Lake Tahoe and north of the summit of Donner Mountain since Sunday.
“The group was returning to the trailhead after a three-day trip when the incident occurred,” Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement Tuesday.
Nine people were initially reported missing in the avalanche. The sheriff’s office was able to maintain contact with the six survivors through an emergency satellite messaging service that allows them to send text messages.
Authorities were alerted to the avalanche by Blackbird Mountain Guides and a satellite communications system, and dispatched ski-equipped search and rescue teams to the area Tuesday afternoon.
The six surviving skiers took shelter in a wooded area and waited for hours for rescuers to arrive, traversing treacherous avalanche terrain in a whiteout.
Moon said survivors found three bodies before rescuers arrived. Two survivors were injured and had to be transported by rescue teams. Others were able to move on their own with emergency responders. Two survivors were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Moon said, but one had already been released.
She said Blackbird Mountain Guides assisted in the emergency response, along with search and rescue teams.
“They responded to us. They wanted to help in any way they could,” President Moon said.
When the avalanche was first reported, 16 people were believed to have been involved in the incident, but President Moon said the total had been revised downwards because one person declined to travel.
The ski group had been guided and prepared for the terrain, but Moon said Tuesday’s snow and wind were dangerous and difficult to manage.
When asked how to prevent such disasters, she said, “Mother Nature doesn’t seem to. It doesn’t seem to matter, right? No matter how prepared we are, no matter how experienced we are,” she said. “So you have to realize that it’s not just you, it’s impacting the likelihood of resources being deployed elsewhere.”
About 30 inches of snow fell at the Tahoe Donner Snow Weather Observatory, about 6 miles from the avalanche site, between Monday and Wednesday morning. The weather station’s elevation is about 800 feet lower than the avalanche area, so more snow likely fell where the avalanche occurred.
An avalanche warning is in effect for the Tahoe region on Tuesday, with high danger on all sides and at all elevations.
“A natural avalanche is likely, and a man-made avalanche large enough to bury or injure people is also very likely,” the Sierra Avalanche Center said in a preliminary report. “In some areas, avalanches can start very low on the slopes.”
Forecasters feared the blizzard conditions could lead to so-called storm-board avalanches. During this time, heavy snowfall creates a layer of compacted snow that does not bond with the weaker layer below. The layers are essentially sheared off and flow downwards within seconds.
In its initial report, the Avalanche Prediction Center said the avalanche occurred on a north-facing slope at an elevation of about 8,200 feet. The location is approximately half a mile from Frog Lake Backcountry Hut.
Avalanches typically occur on terrain with slopes between 30 and 45 degrees. The site offered by the center would have been considered safer for travel, although it had low-angle terrain with steep slopes looming above.
In addition to satellite messaging devices, backcountry skiers typically carry safety equipment such as avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes to locate and rescue fellow skiers if necessary. Authorities said all skiers involved in the incident were carrying avalanche beacons.
Avalanches often cause physical trauma such as head trauma, broken bones, and torn ligaments, but the greatest risk is asphyxiation during burial lasting more than 15 to 20 minutes.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, there have been an average of 27 avalanche fatalities each year in the United States over the past decade.
According to History Link, the deadliest avalanche in recent history occurred in Washington state in June 1981, when a Mount Rainier icefall avalanche killed 11 climbers (one guide and 10 customers). The deadliest avalanche in all of U.S. history was in 1910, when a slide struck two trains traveling through Stevens Pass in Washington state, killing 96 people.
In mountain towns, backcountry skiers tend to form close-knit communities where mountain guides, powder enthusiasts, and search and rescue personnel overlap socially.
“One of the nine people missing is the spouse of one of the members of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team. This has not only been difficult for our community and a difficult rescue, but it has also been emotionally difficult for our team and our organization,” Wu said.
