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Steve Gorman
Updated ,first published
At least eight skiers have died in an avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, and a ninth is presumed dead, authorities said on Wednesday, making the disaster one of the deadliest single avalanches in US history.
Rescuers on skis were able to reach six survivors amid an intense winter storm that has dropped several feet of fresh snow on the mountains in recent days. One skier remains unaccounted for.
The avalanche – the length of a football pitch, according to authorities – struck in the Castle Peak area of Truckee, California, about 16 kilometres north of Lake Tahoe, about 11.30am Pacific time on Tuesday. It engulfed a group of backcountry skiers who were completing a three-day guided excursion.
One of the rescued skiers is still being treated in a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon (US time).
The survivors had taken refuge in a makeshift shelter constructed partly from tarpaulin sheets and communicated with rescuers via a radio beacon and text messaging.
Two rescue teams, totalling about 50 members, were dispatched from the Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Centre and approached the avalanche zone from the south and north.
The rescuers faced “extreme” conditions, Moon said, including blinding snow and gale-force winds. A team was able to use a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the survivors and then ski to the accident site.
The eight dead skiers were found with their beacons active, and their bodies will be recovered when weather permits, authorities said. One was married to a member of the search-and-rescue team.
It is the deadliest avalanche in the US since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier, in Washington.
‘Great’ danger forecast
The group of skiers had been finishing a three-day excursion with Blackbird Mountain Guides at the time of the avalanche. The tour group included four guides and 11 clients, who stayed at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts located near Donner Summit, just northwest of Truckee, at about 2300 metres elevation.
In a typical winter, the mountain receives more than 10 metres of snow, making it one of the snowiest places in the western hemisphere.
An avalanche watch had been issued Sunday morning as a powerful winter storm moved into the state. The Sierra Avalanche Centre extended an avalanche warning it issued on Tuesday, saying “great” danger might continue throughout Wednesday.
Sheriff Moon said investigators would look into the decision to proceed with the trip despite the concern over potential avalanches.
“We’re still in conversation with them on the decision factors that they made,” Moon told reporters at the news conference.
The tour was rated for intermediate-to-expert skiers who should be prepared to climb up to 760 metres throughout the course of a day, according to the company’s website.
Guides carry first aid kits and “wag bags” for human waste disposal, but participants must bring their own ski equipment and avalanche gear, including a beacon, shovel and probe.
“Generally our guides are able to find excellent backcountry snow conditions, but often we need to travel through difficult conditions to access the goods,” the website description said. “This requires riders to be adept with their backcountry touring skills and have a solid foundation of touring before the trip.”
Blackbird issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was working with authorities to support the rescue operation.
The company was founded in 2020 and operates in California, Washington state, and British Columbia, as well as numerous popular ski destinations overseas, according to its website. The company provides guided ski trips, alpine climbing trips and avalanche education.
Avalanches have claimed an average of 27 lives each winter in the US over the past decade, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Centre, which had tallied six US avalanche fatalities so far this season before Tuesday’s disaster.
Three killed in French avalanches
Two separate avalanches this week in the French Alps killed three people and left four wounded, local authorities and French media said.
About midday, a large slide, about 300 metres wide, swept across a road and a footpath in the town of Valloire, in south-east France, the prefecture of Savoie said in a statement.
Rescue teams, including mountain police officers, firefighters, dog units and army specialists, were deployed for more than four hours before operations were halted in the late afternoon due to the risk of further avalanches, the prefecture added.
Two of the wounded were in serious condition and were evacuated by helicopter to nearby hospitals, it said.
French broadcaster BFMTV, citing the prosecutor in the town of Gap, also reported that two skiers had died earlier in an off-piste avalanche in La Grave in the neighbouring Hautes-Alpes region.
The deaths come as France grapples with heavy snowfall in the Alps and flooding in several western regions after days of heavy rain.
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