Rescue ski teams departed from both Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center to make their way to the six known survivors, who have been directed to shelter in place as best they can in the conditions. A SnoCat team was also launched from Alder Creek Adventure Center.
Courtesy of Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
Search-and-rescue teams reached six survivors Tuesday evening after a large avalanche struck a guided group of skiers near Lake Tahoe in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada, leaving 10 people unaccounted for, authorities said.
The slide occurred around 11:30 a.m. near Perry Peak in the Castle Peak area of Truckee, north of Interstate 80, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Search and rescue crews are responding after an avalanche struck a group of backcountry skiers near Castle Peak in Nevada County on Tuesday, authorities said.
CHP Truckee
Article continues below this ad
Officials said a group of 16 skiers — four guides and 12 clients — encountered the avalanche while returning from the Frog Lake backcountry huts. Six survived and were awaiting evacuation as of 8:30 p.m., while 10 others remained unaccounted for.
Search and rescue teams reached the six survivors on Castle Peak, where they had taken shelter under a tarp amid intense snowfall, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon told ABC News. Crews were working to extricate them from the mountain.
A sign is covered in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee.
Brooke Hess-Homeier/Associated Press
Three of the six survivors suffered injuries that prevented them from skiing out, slowing efforts to bring them to safety, Moon said. The priority Tuesday night is stabilizing and evacuating the six survivors. Once that is completed, crews will focus on locating the 10 people who remain missing.
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Authorities are notifying family members and have not released additional identifying information.
Article continues below this ad
The Sierra Avalanche Center confirmed that a large avalanche occurred near Perry Peak at approximately 8,200 feet on a north-facing slope. The center classified it as a D2.5 avalanche — large enough to bury or destroy a vehicle and capable of causing serious injury or death. The trigger remains under investigation.
The group was on the final day of a three-day backcountry ski trip, said Steve Reynaud, an avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center in Tahoe National Forest. The skiers had spent two nights at remote huts and were navigating up to 4 miles of what Reynaud described as “rugged mountainous terrain,” carrying their own food and supplies.
“It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,” said Brandon Schwartz, lead avalanche forecaster for Tahoe National Forest.
A vehicle is buried in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee.
Brooke Hess-Homeier/Associated Press
Avalanche danger was rated “High” across the Central Sierra Nevada on Tuesday.
Article continues below this ad
“Travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain is not recommended today. A widespread natural avalanche cycle is expected over the next 24 hours,” the Sierra Avalanche Center said. “Large avalanches may run through treed areas.”
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning through 10 p.m. Thursday for much of the northern and central Sierra, forecasting 4 to 8 feet of snow at higher elevations and wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph.
Interstate 80 over Donner Summit was closed in both directions because of whiteout conditions and near-zero visibility, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“This is unsafe travel,” CHP said. “If you don’t absolutely need to be out, don’t be.”
Trucks are lined up along Interstate 80 during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee.
Brooke Hess-Homeier/Associated Press
Guide company Blackbird Mountain Guides confirmed the group had been staying at the Frog Lake huts since Sunday and “was in the process of returning to the trailhead … when the incident occurred.”
Article continues below this ad
Reaching the huts requires roughly a 6-mile ski tour from a trailhead near Boreal Mountain Resort, traversing terrain that can produce avalanches during heavy storms
Castle Peak is one of the Tahoe region’s most popular backcountry destinations, drawing skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers from a trailhead off Interstate 80.
Forecasters assessed avalanche danger near Castle Peak on Monday, February 16 in the Donner Summit area, Calif.
Sierra Avalanche Center
“There’s all sorts of terrain in that area,” said Anthony Cupaiuolo, executive director of the Tahoe Backcountry Alliance. “But it’s tricky terrain, especially on a poor-visibility day like today.”
If fatalities are confirmed, the incident could rank among the deadliest avalanches in the United States in more than four decades, according to data from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Article continues below this ad
Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, a volunteer organization assisting in the operation, said highway closures and whiteout conditions were making access difficult.
“Because of the extreme conditions, it’s tough to get searchers in there,” said Doug Read, the group’s founder, who clarified he is not directly involved in Tuesday’s deployment.
Castle Peak exit and Boreal Ridge Rd exit off I-80 show snowy conditions on the morning of Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
Anthony Edwards/S.F. Chronicle
Some ski resorts, including Boreal Mountain, suspended operations because of high winds and near-zero visibility.
The incident comes weeks after a 42-year-old Bend, Ore., man was killed in a backcountry avalanche near Castle Peak despite rapid rescue efforts by companions and an off-duty medic.
Authorities said the search remains active and ongoing.
Anthony Edwards, Megan Munce, Matthias Gafni and Aldo Toledo contributed to this report.