It’s a race against time and severe winter conditions, as dozens of first responders work to reach nine skiers missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.
It took teams several hours to safely reach six other backcountry skiers caught in the slide in the Castle Peak area of Truckee around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The group of skiers and guides were returning to the trailhead from a three-day trip when the avalanche happened, according to a statement from Blackbird Mountain Guides. The company said it was responding to the incident and working to support the rescue operation.
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The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said the rescued skiers were evacuated by the Truckee Fire Department, two of them were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Wednesday’s Rescue Conditions
Nearly 50 emergency responders are part of the rescue effort, and while the conditions remain dangerous, the weather is just a little bit better.
“Today is a bit of a lull within this siege of storms,” says weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. He added that while there will be some snow showers, additional accumulations should be on the low side today.
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
Lighter winds are expected, “However, another round of snow Thursday could dump up to another couple of feet over the snow-weary Sierra,” Erdman explained.
Conditions Before The Avalanche
The Sierra Avalanche Center issued an alert on Tuesday, warning of a “widespread” cycle that could produce large avalanches. An avalanche warning from the National Weather Service is in effect until Thursday morning.
A huge winter storm is blasting the region with feet of heavy snow and dangerous wind gusts. More than 3 feet of snow has already fallen in the region.
That rapid snow accumulation, combined with gusty winds weakened the snowpack, causing Tuesday’s avalanche.
Persistent weak layers are the cause of most avalanche accidents according to Avalanche.org. Their experts say it’s because they can trigger avalanches long after the immediate danger of a storm has passed.
Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe were fully or partially closed due to the extreme weather. The resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry where travel in, near or below the avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, according to Sierra Avalanche Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
