Snowboarders head down a run at Northstar ski resort in 2016. A 53-year-old Bay Area man died in a skiing accident on the Polaris black diamond trail on Sunday, and a 26-year-old Los Angeles man died on Martis Trail at the resort on Feb. 6, 2026, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Randy Pench
Sacramento Bee file
A Bay Area man died in a skiing accident over the weekend at Truckee’s Northstar California Resort in the Lake Tahoe area, law enforcement and resort officials said Tuesday.
The man was involved in a two-person accident Sunday morning, which officials responded to at 11:30 a.m., Placer County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Elise Soviar said. The man was identified as 53-year-old Stuart McLaughlin of Hillsborough in San Mateo County.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event, and the Northstar team extends our deepest condolences to the family, loved ones, and friends of the guests involved,” Northstar general manager Tara Schoedinger said in a statement.
Northstar officials said a collision occurred on the advanced Polaris trail. Ski patrol responded, and McLaughlin was pronounced deceased by the Northstar Fire Department. The other involved skier was taken to the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee for treatment.
Polaris trail is a black diamond run accessed by the resort’s Backside Express lift.
The incident came less than two weeks after a 26-year-old man from Los Angeles died from an accident on another Northstar black diamond run, Martis Trail, that can reached only via the members-only Martis Camp Lodge.
Northstar received 7 to 15 inches of new snow over the weekend which is expected to continue throughout the week. On Tuesday both Interstate 80 and Highway 50 in the mountains were closed to drivers amid severe winter conditions.
Authorities in Nevada County on Tuesday reported that a group of 16 backcountry skiers were involved in an avalanche in the Castle Peak area, north of Soda Springs and northwest of Truckee. At least six survived, with rescue efforts underway Tuesday afternoon, while 10 others remained unaccounted for.
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 4:11 PM.
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Chris Biderman covers sports and local news for the Sacramento Bee since joining in August 2018 to cover the San Francisco 49ers. He previously spent time with the Associated Press and USA Today Sports Media Group, and has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Athletic and on MLB.com. He is a current member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and former member of the Pro Football Writers of America. The Santa Rosa native graduated with a degree in journalism from the Ohio State University.Â