Six backcountry skiers were rescued Tuesday evening after an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada northwest of Lake Tahoe, officials said. Nine others remained missing.
“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post late Tuesday. “The search is ongoing, pending weather conditions.”
The Sheriff’s Office said those who were rescued had “varying injuries,” and two were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Dozens of rescuers were dispatched Tuesday afternoon after the avalanche in the Castle Peak area of Truckee around 11:30 a.m., officials said. The search continued even as weather conditions deteriorated amid a multiday storm in the region.
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Officials initially said that the group caught in the avalanche consisted of 16 people, including four ski guides and 12 clients, but later said there were 15 people on the trip. They were returning from the Frog Lake backcountry huts when they encountered the avalanche.
Rescue ski teams had departed from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center in the afternoon to make their way to the six known survivors, according to sheriff’s officials.
There were 46 emergency first responders deployed, officials said.
Rescuers set off Tuesday after a group of 16 skiers encountered an avalanche in the Castle Peak area of Truckee.
(Nevada County Sheriff’s Office)
Nine-thousand-foot Castle Peak, and the surrounding hillsides, are a popular winter sports destination for backcountry skiers and snowmobilers.
But since the slopes are not patrolled like those in commercial ski areas, and there is no systematic avalanche control, the risk is much higher than it is at a resort — especially during, or immediately after, a big storm.
According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee, the avalanche occurred at about 8,200 feet elevation at Perry Peak near Frog Lake and Castle Peak. The destructive size of the event was D2.5 — meaning it was about the size of a football field and capable of burying and killing people. The trigger was unknown.
Interstate 80 was closed near the Nevada state line earlier Tuesday due to snow, according to Caltrans.
Avalanche rescues can be challenging, as loose and fluffy snow consolidates quickly and hardens like concrete, making it difficult for those buried underneath to breathe.
This has been a dangerous avalanche season for snow adventurers in the high Sierra.
In early January, 42-year-old snowmobiler Chris Scott Thomason was buried underneath the snow in another avalanche around Castle Peak. Despite having the latest safety gear and being in a group of other experienced riders, as well as the assistance of an off-duty Truckee fire department medic, who performed CPR, Thomason did not survive.
In December, another snowmobiler was badly injured in an avalanche at Latopie Lake in Mono County, and was airlifted for emergency services in Reno.