Bodies of 9 backcountry skiers recovered days after avalanche

Crews recovered the bodies of nine backcountry skiers who were killed in a California avalanche four days ago, authorities said Saturday, concluding a harrowing operation hindered by intense snowfall.

A search team reached the bodies of eight victims and found one other who had been missing and presumed dead since Tuesday’s avalanche on Castle Peak near Lake Tahoe. The ninth person who was missing was found “relatively close” to the other victims, but it was impossible to see them because there were white-out conditions on Tuesday when the others were located.

The victims included three women from Marin.

At a news conference on Saturday, Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon praised the collective efforts of the numerous agencies who helped recover the victims, including the 42 volunteers who helped on the last day of the operation.

“We are fortunate in this mountain community that we are very tight knit, and our community shows up in times of tragedy,” Moon said.

The tragedy began around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday when six survivors called for help, describing a sudden and terrifying avalanche that was approximately the length of a football field. In the aftermath of the snowfall, those survivors had discovered the bodies of three deceased skiers nearby, according to Nevada County Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Hack.

It was the last day of the three-day tour in the stunning and remote Sierra Nevada, and the group of 15 skiers decided to end the trip early to avoid the impending snowstorm. Officials described the path that the group was taking as a “normally traveled route” but declined to specify what that meant.
Initial reports indicated that at least two people in the group did not get swept away, Hack said. The others were standing separately and relatively close together and were hit with the avalanche.

Hack declined to offer more information about what might have set off the avalanche.

First responders weren’t able to reach them until roughly six hours after the initial call for help, Hack said, and were forced to take two separate paths. The rescue teams also found the bodies of five others, leaving only one unaccounted for.

But it was immediately clear to rescuers that it was too dangerous to extract the bodies of the victims at that time due to the heavy snowfall and threat of more avalanches. Those conditions persisted on Wednesday and Thursday, as the families of victims waited for the bad weather to abate.

Officials used two helicopters belonging to the California Highway Patrol, with the help of Pacific Gas and Electric company, to break up the snow in the area to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk of another avalanche for rescue crews.
The state highway agency was able to recover five victims that evening before it got too dark to access the last three.

Helicopters with the California National Guard and California Highway Patrol recovered the final four bodies on Saturday morning with helicopters by hoisting them from the mountain with ropes, fighting through severe winds that forced the agencies to make multiple trips. The bodies were then taken to nearby snowcats — trucks that are outfitted to be able to drive on snow.

“We cannot say enough how tremendously sorry we are for the families that has been affected by this avalanche,” Moon said.
Land will reopen in March

The area will be closed to visitors until mid-March, said Chris Feutrier, the forest supervisor for the Tahoe National Forest. But he said that officials fully intended on restoring public access as soon as the investigation is complete.

“This is the public’s land, and they love to recreate on it,” Feutrier said. “The Forest Service doesn’t close public land for every hazard or every obstacle. We trust the American people to use their best judgment when recreating.”