Search-and-rescue personnel working through dangerous weather conditions recovered six skiers who were stranded in Northern California’s backcountry following an avalanche on Tuesday, according to authorities, who said rescue efforts were ongoing to locate nine more people unaccounted for.
The rescue was announced late Tuesday in an update from the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, which said two of the six recovered skiers were transported to a hospital for treatment. Their conditions were unknown.
Rescue ski teams from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center departed to reach the six known survivors sheltering at the avalanche site hours earlier on Tuesday, while 46 first responders were sent to search for skiers unaccounted for, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities initially said 10 people were missing, but the number of people unaccounted for was reduced to nine after it was clarified that only 15 people were a part of the party.
“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours to safety reach the skiers and transport them to safety where they were medically evaluated by Truckee, Fire,” the county sheriff’s office said in the update, adding that “the search is ongoing, pending weather conditions.”
Videos posted earlier to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page show a handful of people, seemingly rescuers, bundled up and walking through heavy snow underfoot and through a snowstorm.
The avalanche occurred at about 11:30 a.m. PST Tuesday in Castle Peak, located in California’s mountainous Nevada County near Lake Tahoe, affecting the four ski guides and 12 clients of a ski tour.
Capt. Russell Green of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA 3 that authorities were notified of the avalanche by activated emergency beacons and by the ski tour company.
His office described weather conditions as “highly dangerous,” and Green remarked that rescue efforts would be “slow going.”
Specialized SnoCat vehicles have been brought in, rescuers on skis have been deployed and snowmobilers are on standby, he said.
“We have several different ways that people are attempting to get in there,” he said. “It’s just going to be a slow, tedious process. They also have to be very careful accessing the area due to the fact that the avalanche danger is still very high.”
An avalanche warning from the Sierra Avalanche Center was in effect from 5 a.m. Tuesday through 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Green said people use the backcountry in all weather.
“We advise against it, obviously,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon, not that it was a wise choice.”
Concerning the six people accounted for, Green said they have taken refuge in a makeshift shelter and are “doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue.”
Truckee-based mountain guide company Blackbird Mountain Guides confirmed in a statement that the skiers affect had been staying at huts at Frog Lake since Sunday and were returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day trip when hit by the avalanche.
“The leadership team at Blackbird Mountain Guides remains fully engaged in assisting the search-and-rescue efforts on the ground as we navigate this incredibly difficult situation alongside those involved,” it said.
Last month, a snowmobiler was killed in the Castle Peak area after being buried in an avalanche while out for a ride.
