Search-and-rescue personnel were working through dangerous weather conditions Tuesday to reach a group of six stranded skiers and locate 10 others unaccounted for in Northern California’s backcountry following an avalanche, authorities said.
Rescue ski teams from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center have departed to reach the six known survivors sheltering at the avalanche site, while 46 first responders search for the 10 people unaccounted for, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Videos posted 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 four of its guides and 12 clients were involved.
“The group was in the process of returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day trip when the incident occurred,” the company said, adding it was cooperating with authorities and was in contact with the emergency contacts of the clients and guides.
Last month, a snowmobiler was killed in the Castle Peak area after being buried in an avalanche while out for a ride.
