Eight skiers were killed in a Tuesday morning avalanche near the Castle Peak area, close to Truckee. A search continues for a ninth skier who is believed to also be dead.The 15 skiers on the tragic trip stayed at the Frog Lake Huts in the backcountry. From Interstate 80, these huts are about three-and-a-half miles in, through rough terrain, near Castle Peak. KCRA 3 spoke with an avid backcountry skier who has stayed at those huts four times over the last four years. “It’s a really magical place,” Kurt Gensheimer said. “It’s one of the best places to backcountry ski in the country. And the Frog Lake huts are the nicest amenities possibly in North America for backcountry skiing.”He said there are a couple of different ways to get to the huts from I-80, and all of them involve going through avalanche terrain. Gensheimer was just there last week on a three-night trip. He left the huts on Sunday, the same day the 15 backcountry skiers arrived.”The discussion in the huts was this is a big storm coming. It’s going to come in, you know, Monday night, early Tuesday. It is going to dump a ton of snow. It’s going to be full-on blizzard conditions. You either should get out by Monday or plan to be there till Thursday, Friday,” Gensheimer said. Gensheimer and his friends took a different route out than the group coming in, so they didn’t cross paths on Sunday. “In less than 48 hours to get word of this absolutely tragic accident in the same area that we just were, was shocking but shocking from a just like a why did they make that decision aspect? Like, it’s not shocking that there were avalanches. So, it’s not shocking that there was a blizzard up there and that there was four feet of snow in 24 hours. It was shocking that the decision was made to travel in those conditions,” he said. He doesn’t want to speculate about what went into that decision but said the losses have been shattering for their tight-knit community.”Just families, you know, impacted beyond belief. And for what? It’s just the saddest part of it all is like we’re just trying to be in the outdoors and enjoy skiing and enjoy, you know, time in the wild with our friends. And I think sometimes we lose sight of just how dangerous this can be,” he said. He hosts a podcast called Mind the Track. It talks largely about being safe in the back country. He said after big storms like this one – it’s really important to give the snow pack time to settle.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channelPHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. —

Eight skiers were killed in a Tuesday morning avalanche near the Castle Peak area, close to Truckee. A search continues for a ninth skier who is believed to also be dead.

The 15 skiers on the tragic trip stayed at the Frog Lake Huts in the backcountry. From Interstate 80, these huts are about three-and-a-half miles in, through rough terrain, near Castle Peak.

KCRA 3 spoke with an avid backcountry skier who has stayed at those huts four times over the last four years.

“It’s a really magical place,” Kurt Gensheimer said. “It’s one of the best places to backcountry ski in the country. And the Frog Lake huts are the nicest amenities possibly in North America for backcountry skiing.”

He said there are a couple of different ways to get to the huts from I-80, and all of them involve going through avalanche terrain.

Gensheimer was just there last week on a three-night trip. He left the huts on Sunday, the same day the 15 backcountry skiers arrived.

“The discussion in the huts was this is a big storm coming. It’s going to come in, you know, Monday night, early Tuesday. It is going to dump a ton of snow. It’s going to be full-on blizzard conditions. You either should get out by Monday or plan to be there till Thursday, Friday,” Gensheimer said.

Gensheimer and his friends took a different route out than the group coming in, so they didn’t cross paths on Sunday.

“In less than 48 hours to get word of this absolutely tragic accident in the same area that we just were, was shocking but shocking from a just like a why did they make that decision aspect? Like, it’s not shocking that there were avalanches. So, it’s not shocking that there was a blizzard up there and that there was four feet of snow in 24 hours. It was shocking that the decision was made to travel in those conditions,” he said.

He doesn’t want to speculate about what went into that decision but said the losses have been shattering for their tight-knit community.

“Just families, you know, impacted beyond belief. And for what? It’s just the saddest part of it all is like we’re just trying to be in the outdoors and enjoy skiing and enjoy, you know, time in the wild with our friends. And I think sometimes we lose sight of just how dangerous this can be,” he said.

He hosts a podcast called Mind the Track. It talks largely about being safe in the back country. He said after big storms like this one – it’s really important to give the snow pack time to settle.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel