Eight of the nine ‘missing’ backcountry skiers were found dead after an avalanche happened at Lake Tahoe’s Boreal Mountain Resort/Castle Peak in California.
Six other skiers were rescued.
This is the deadliest avalanche in the US in 45 years.
A group of 15 skiers were caught in an avalanche on Tuesday morning as they were on their way back from a 3-day trip. Search and rescue efforts went late into Tuesday evening amid ‘treacherous conditions.’
“They were on their way back to camp when the avalanche actually hit. It took these search and rescue crews hours just to find those first few survivors that we’re talking,” Sheriff Shannan Moon said.
Fox News reported:
Eight skiers that went missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California have been found dead and one is still missing, authorities said Wednesday.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said during a news conference that authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescue to recovery.
The avalanche is the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier, Washington.
Six survivors were found Tuesday night buried in the snow, Moon said, who described the weather conditions as “extreme.”
The skiers were on a three-day trek in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada as a monster winter storm pummeled the West Coast. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reporting the avalanche had buried 15 skiers.
Watch the Nevada County avalanche presser here:
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