Avalanche risk lowered slightly as body recovery efforts of 8 skiers begins

Operations to retrieve the bodies of skiers killed in Tuesday’s avalanche started Saturday morning. A Blackhawk med-evac helicopter took off from a Truckee airport just before 10 a.m. and flew into the area where the deadly slide struck a ski-tour group and guides northeast of Donner Summit.

The risk of more avalanches in the area had been slightly lowered Saturday, but with a new aspect of peril.

While the Sierra Avalanche Center had rated the danger of slides “high” on Tuesday — the second most dangerous below “extreme” — center forecasters reported the overall danger as “considerable” Saturday, one level lower. And while large to very large slides of thick slabs of snow were “likely” Tuesday, the center said avalanches of that size were “possible” Saturday.

But forecasters added a new danger, of wind-blown snow packed into slabs, making small to large avalanches likely, though not at lower elevations or on slopes facing west, southwest or south.

Teams were to bring back the bodies of eight skiers killed by an avalanche near Castle Peak on Tuesday, the deadliest slide in California history. One more skier was missing and presumed dead.

Six survivors were rescued Tuesday, with the locations of eight who didn’t survive marked with poles in the snow.

The six who survived included one of the four guides leading the trip. Two were treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Six of the eight victims, all women, were identified Thursday afternoon. Some of the women were mothers of children in Sugar Bowl Academy’s competitive ski program.

The other victims have not yet been publicly identified. Authorities have said they will not formally confirm identities until the bodies are recovered.

The guided group of 15 backcountry skiers had spent two nights at the Frog Lake huts north of Interstate 80 near Donner Summit and was returning to the trailhead Tuesday morning when the avalanche struck. The trip was led by Truckee-based Blackbird Mountain Guides. Three of the four guides on the excursion were among those killed.

Days earlier, the guiding company had posted a video on Instagram warning that recent dry spells followed by new snow had created a “particularly weak layer” in the snowpack that could lead to “unpredictable avalanches.”

The state has opened an investigation into the incident and the role of guides working for the company. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is leading the probe and has up to six months to determine whether workplace safety violations occurred.

Storm efforts have repeatedly delayed recovery of the skiers’ bodies, as heavy snow, high winds and continued avalanche risk have prevented crews from retrieving the victims Wednesday and Thursday.

Authorities deployed two Pacific Gas & Electric helicopters Friday to try to trigger avalanches so they wouldn’t occur during recovery operations over the weekend.

Check back as this story develops.