Avalanche search update<\/p>\n
Moon said the Sheriff\u2019s Office was still in conversation with guide company officials about the decision to take the three-day trip in such perilous conditions. The avalanche came amid a powerful winter storm that has dumped multiple feet of snow in the mountains and prompted warnings of high avalanche danger in the Lake Tahoe backcountry.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred in the Castle Peak area, where a snowmobiler died in a similar slide<\/a> at the start of the year and where three other fatal avalanches have happened since 2012. It is popular with backcountry skiers.<\/p>\n The tour was led by Blackbird Mountain Guides and the group had been staying at a lodging area known as the Frog Lake Huts. It has a communal area with a kitchen, fireplace, and sleeping quarters.<\/p>\n A post on the company\u2019s Instagram page<\/a> three days ago warned about avalanche hazards. It featured a video in the area of Mt. Rose, which is in Nevada and about 25 miles from where the incident occurred.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we move into a large storm cycle this week, pay close attention to places where faceting has been particularly strong \u2014 avalanches could behave abnormally, and the hazard could last longer than normal,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Moon said the guide company had been \u201cvery cooperative\u201d in providing information from the trip and members of the group had responded with rescuers.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wanted to do everything that they could to assist,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Blackbird Mountain Guides lists avalanche safety courses, guided by the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, as among their offerings.<\/p>\n The research organization told The Sacramento Bee in a statement it \u201cwas not involved in the planning or on-the-ground operations\u201d of the trip.<\/p>\n \u201cTravel in avalanche terrain involves inherent and dynamic risk,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n Sheriff\u2019s Office Capt. Rusty Greene said Wednesday that those who survived reported that someone saw the avalanche occurring and yelled before the group was overtaken by the snow. The group was \u201cfairly close together,\u201d when it occurred, he said.<\/p>\n The six survivors had sheltered in place and attempted to locate missing members of their group before rescuers arrived, Moon said. Three deceased skiers had been located prior to the arrival of search teams.<\/p>\n Rescuers reached the survivors after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday after traveling to the site using a specialized snow vehicle and then reaching the area on skis. Moon said it took several hours to take those rescued from the site of the avalanche to the trailhead, where ambulances were waiting to take the injured people to the hospital.<\/p>\n Difficult weather and safety conditions were affecting the search for the final person, Moon said. The people who died were from multiple states, said the sheriff, who declined to release their names during a midday press conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n Families of the victims are \u201cstill reeling,\u201d she said. Moon noted that an investigation into the tragedy is ongoing.<\/p>\n Ski community reacts to the news<\/p>\n Skiing is a community bond in Truckee and other Tahoe area mountain towns. News of the catastrophic avalanche cut a wide swath through that community, even as people tried to enjoy skiing a fresh blizzard\u2019s deposits after a long drought of new snow.<\/p>\n At RMU Truckee, a combination ski shop and cocktail bar that is a mainstay of the historic downtown, employee Mac Coppes hurried to set up for the 2 p.m. opening \u2013 with his snowpants still on and his face flush from skiing at Sugar Bowl Resort.<\/p>\n A backcountry skier as well, Coppes only remembered to turn off his beacon \u2014 the transmitting device worn when traveling in avalanche terrain \u2014 when approached by a reporter. He\u2019d kept it transmitting from his pocket, given the deep new snowfall, even though he\u2019d been skiing at the resort.<\/p>\n A three-year resident of the area, Coppes said the threat of avalanches is always there for skiers, but that it\u2019s a fear that can fade in intensity over time. After Tuesday\u2019s tragedy, it was front of mind.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just makes it more real for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Down the street at Tahoe Dave\u2019s Ski and Boards, a longtime area staple with five shops spread through the mountain towns, Yvonne Moore said it was the size of the group caught by the avalanche that shook her and other locals she spoke too.<\/p>\n Striking too, she said, was the intensity blizzard this week. Even by the Sierra range\u2019s high standards, snow had been coming down at a remarkable pace. \u201cThis storm was massive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Because the guides were likely local residents, she said, grieving would spread community wide and was \u201ccertain\u201d to touch Truckee.<\/p>\n Concerning conditions Tuesday<\/p>\n Tucker Norred, a marketing manager at Boreal Mountain, a ski resort across Interstate 80 from one of the access points to the Castle Peak area, said Wednesday morning that the recent storm came on in layers that particularly exaggerated the avalanche danger.<\/p>\n High avalanche conditions arise in the northern Sierras when cold storms follow warm spells, Norred said. \u201cI\u2019ve been back there and I would not want to go out there on a day like yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n This week\u2019s snowfall started wetter and heavier on Monday. It fell on a snowpack that hadn\u2019t seen significant accumulation since a series of storms around Christmas, with the exception of one snowfall on Feb. 10. That layering of heavy snow on top of the older snowpack fueled the conditions that likely allowed for Tuesday\u2019s large avalanche, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center.<\/p>\n Chris Feutrier, a forest supervisor of the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s Tahoe National Forest, said the avalanche path was about the length of a football field and was triggered when a \u201cpersistent weak layer\u201d of snow collapsed under a heavy load of new snowfall.<\/p>\n Moon, the sheriff, said rescuers were facing \u201chorrific\u201d and \u201cwhiteout conditions\u201d that made their work more difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cI myself like to recreate in that area,\u201d she said. But mother nature,\u201d she said, \u201cit doesn\u2019t seem to matter.\u201d<\/p>\n An avalanche warning<\/a> remained in effect until Thursday morning in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains between highways 49 and 4, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center. Avalanches are expected to continue in backcountry areas.<\/p>\n The California Department of Transportation reopened eastbound Interstate 80 Wednesday morning.<\/a> Westbound I-80 was also open to vehicle traffic as were both directions of Highway 50.<\/p>\n This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 10:49 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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