Ten backcountry skiers are unaccounted for after an avalanche struck near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday while heavy snow fell in the area.
The group of skiers, which included four guides and 12 clients, were in the Sierra Nevada’s Castle Peak area near Truckee, California when the avalanche erupted at around 11.30am, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office announced.
At least six skiers survived, but were awaiting rescue on Tuesday afternoon as authorities told them to shelter in place. The remaining 10 were unaccounted for.
The group arrived to Sierra Nevada on Sunday and had been set to check out on Tuesday from the Frog Lake Huts, a backcountry lodge run by the Truckee Donner Land Trust, Steve Reynaud, an avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center told the Press-Democrat.
The land trust notes on its website that usual routes to and from the lodge have ‘some degree of avalanche hazard.’
Nearly 50 first responders are now scouring the area to reach the survivors and find the missing skiers. A SnoCat team was also launched as part of the search and rescue mission.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office is leading the response and is being assisted by Nevada County Search and Rescue, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Washoe County Search and Rescue, and Truckee Fire, it said.
But the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office warned that conditions remain ‘highly dangerous’ with an avalanche warning remaining in effect through Wednesday as the rapidly accumulating snowfall piled onto already fragile snowpack layers amid gale-force winds.
Nearly 50 first responders are scouring the area of the Sierra Nevada’s Castle Peak area near Truckee, California to find six skiers who survived an avalanche – and 10 people who remain unaccounted for
Travel in, near, or below the avalanche terrain in the backcountry was strongly discouraged
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, the Sierra Avalanche Center of the Tahoe National Forest said.
‘It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,’ said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the center.
The sheriff’s office said conditions remain ‘highly dangerous’ with an avalanche warning remaining in effect through Wednesday
Parts of Lake Tahoe could see four to eight feet of snow by the time the storm ends on Thursday
The National Weather Service has implemented a winter storm warning, which remains in effect through 10pm Thursday for the entire Sierra Nevada range.
The service warned that elevations above 3,500 feet could see four to eight feet of snow by the end of the storm.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
